Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences announces its 146th Commencement ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 16 at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, New York. The featured Commencement speaker will be David M. Stack ’76, retired chairman and CEO of Pacira Biosciences.
More than 200 undergraduate, graduate, dual-degree and PharmD students are expected to cross the stage to receive their diplomas at the 10 am ceremony. Graduating students have earned degrees in one or more of ACPHS’ 19 academic programs spanning the Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Clinical and Health Sciences.
The graduates come from various towns and cities throughout New York state as well as:
- Twenty-three additional states, including: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hamphire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington.
- Two U.S. territories: Guam and Puerto Rico
- Nine countries, including: the United States, Antigua & Barbuda (St. John), Canada, India, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, South Korea, Taiwan
In total, there will be 260 degrees awarded to 210 people, including: 
- 114 Bachelor of Science candidates
-
- 49 BS Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPK) degrees awarded concurrently to PharmD students
- One BS Public Health degree awarded concurrently to a PharmD student
- 48 Master of Science degree candidates
- 11 Bachelor of Science/Master of Science combined degree program candidates
- 87 Doctor of Pharmacy degree candidates
2026 Commencement Speaker
Stack retired in January 2024 from Pacira Biosciences after serving for 17 years as chairperson and CEO. He built the organization into a fully integrated acute care company with a non-opioid pain portfolio responsible for treating more than 17 million patients in the United States.
Prior to leading Pacira, he served in a number of leadership positions in the biotech industry including as managing director of MPM Capital; managing partner of Stack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and president and CEO of The Medicines Company. He was also named president and general manager at Innovex, Inc.; vice president, Business Development/Marketing at Immunomedics; and he held various positions including therapeutic world leader for infectious disease, virology and oncology at Hoffmann La Roche.
Following his graduation from Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 1976, he started his career as a pharmacist at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Graciously sharing his business acumen and expertise, Mr. Stack has supported more than a dozen private and public company boards, including the ACPHS Board of Trustees, and was the chairman of Chiasma until its sale in 2021.
He was the founding donor for the College’s Stack Family Center for Biopharmaceutical Education and Training (CBET), which is committed to bridging academia and industry together on biopharmaceutical education and innovation. He also developed the Stack Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Siena University and was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2003, New Jersey-Healthcare.
He holds a BS in Pharmacy from Albany College of Pharmacy, a BS in Biology from Siena College, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from ACPHS.
Commencement will be live streamed via the ACPHS website for families and friends who cannot attend in person.
For details about the ceremony such as directions, tickets, hotel accommodations, parking and complimentary shuttles to the event, please visit the 2026 Commencement web page.
Social