Executive Residents

Brian Lawson, PharmD

Brian Lawson is the Associate Executive Director for the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) in Washington, DC. BPS is an autonomous division of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and recognizes pharmacy specialties and certifies pharmacists’ knowledge and skills at the advanced practice level. In this role, he oversees the Professional Affairs, Communications, and Engagement (PACE) team that is responsible for monitoring the professional pharmacy landscape in the U.S. and around the globe and developing collaborative relationships within the healthcare community to promote the value of BPS board certification. He currently serves as the staff liaison to the APhA Task Force on Addressing Structural Racism in Pharmacy. Lawson was named the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy inaugural Global Executive in Residence in 2019 and the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.) Next Gen Professional Award recipient in 2021. 

Prior to BPS, he was the Associate Director, Governance for APhA with responsibilities related to the activities of the Board of Trustees, the House of Delegates, policy development, profession-wide awards, and Board elections. Lawson earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from West Virginia University (WVU) in 2008 and was subsequently named the first Knowlton Center Executive Resident in Association Management and Leadership at the APhA Foundation. 

Lawson is a former president of the WVU School of Pharmacy Alumni Association and received the Margaret Buchanan Cole Young Alumni from the WVU Alumni Association in 2018 for outstanding service and mentorship. He remains active with WVU through his appointment as an adjunct assistant professor and service on the School’s Leadership Council as well as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. He is a native of Huntington, WV.

"As I reflect on my time as the first Executive Fellow, I recognize this post-graduate experience enhanced skills in adaptability, communications, and people and project management; these are competencies I continue to develop and refine 12 years later. Over the last nine years with the Board of Pharmacy Specialties, I’ve accepted new challenges and responsibilities that advance strategic goals, create more efficiencies, and manage growth. I started in 2012 as a team of one in the role of Director of Professional Affairs. Currently, I am the Associate Executive Director, the #2 administrative leader for a certification agency with a staff of 20, and oversee the day-to-day activities of a core group of 4 staff in a newly formed Professional Affairs, Communications, and Engagement team."