Dr. Andrea Kjos, PharmD, PhD; Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences at Drake University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (CPHS); has been selected as the next Herb and Karen Baum Chair of Ethics in the Professions. Kjos will succeed Dr. Melissa Weresh, Professor of Law, as she completes her three-year term of service.
The Baum Chair unites Drake faculty members with research and teaching interests in ethics, bringing them together into an ongoing forum on ethics and the world of practice to engage the campus in broader discourse.
Values and ethics have been a central feature of Dr. Kjos’ teaching and research for years, making her a qualified fit for the Chairship. She brings to the role over 15 years of teaching and research in healthcare, both inside and outside of the pharmacy profession.
Kjos is a Drake PH’05 alumna herself and returned to CPHS as a faculty member in 2009, after obtaining a PhD in Social and Administrative Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota. She has worked with students across nearly all CPHS programs, as well as various Drake undergraduate programs including the Honors Program and Bright College.
Kjos’ scholarship focuses on interrelated themes that connect to culture, values, and ethics, with a specific emphasis on health professions within healthcare organizations and systems. She specializes in social and behavioral sciences in health, which examines how human behavior and interactions in society impact healthcare outcomes.
“In my experience, students grapple with dissonance early in their training,” said Kjos. “They readily embrace idealism and hope for the future; but during even brief internships, they encounter practical challenges that conflict with those ideals. Therefore, as educators, we are asked to walk a line between the uncertain promise of idealistic possibilities and the contrasting realities of the present.”
Within her research, Kjos is most interested in the education, history and sociology of health professions. Her work integrates interdisciplinary perspectives to understand commonalities and differences in U.S. health professions. She has had four peer-reviewed publications and eight peer-reviewed podium presentations surrounding the findings of this work. Currently, she is conducting investigations of ethical indicators’ connection to moral distress across various health professions.
“I am interested in the ways that our values and ethics – ideas embedded in our culture and history – can provide an understanding of contemporary issues in healthcare,” Kjos said.
The prestigious Herb and Karen Baum Chairship of Ethics in the Professions faculty position was established by Herb Baum and his wife, Karen, in 2010. Herb was a 1958 graduate of Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration and served on the Drake University Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2014. He passed away in 2020. The bulk of his career was spent promoting business ethics, and him and Karen provided funds and leadership to create the Baum Chair position and an accompanying symposium.
In her upcoming three years as Baum Chair, Kjos will be responsible for enhancing scholarly work, teaching, and student learning, as well as contributing to broader campus discourse around ethical issues inside and outside of the classroom. In her second year, she will organize the Baum Symposium on Ethics and the Professions.
Kjos hopes that as Baum Chair, insights gained as part of her research can provide strategies in supporting workforce resiliency as well as training and education of future healthcare professionals.
“Application of ethics to emerging issues can serve to reaffirm commitment to or assist in proposing reforms,” said Kjos. “I appreciate that ethics function as a shared language across disciplines, making it a valuable tool to navigate complex issues. I look forward to engaging with the Drake community on the challenges we face in our health care system.”