History

cornerstone-laying

In this photo College of Pharmacy leaders gather for the laying of the cornerstone of the Affiliated Colleges of the University of California, March 27, 1897, at the base of Mount Sutro. From left to right: Gaston E. Bacon (one of five graduates from original class of 1875 and President of the Board of Directors of the School of Pharmacy), John Calvert (one of six original founders and professor of pharmacy), Edward W. Runyon (dean, 1885-1891, and former professor of pharmacy), JJB Argenti (professor of botany), Franklin Green (dean 1909-1927, and professor of pharmacy), F.A. Beckett (member of site and building committee and former quiz master), William M. Searby (of the original founders, dean 1883-1885, 1891-1909, and professor of pharmacy). Image source: “Cornerstone laying of California College of Pharmacy,” UCSF Digital Collections, accessed April 18, 2014.

1868: University of California is founded

The University of California (UC) is founded by the State of California with the Organic Act of 1868, which outlines degree programs and opens the door to affiliations with incorporated colleges.

1872: College of Pharmacy is founded

The current UCSF School of Pharmacy is founded in 1872 as the California College of Pharmacy by a group of farsighted members of the California Pharmaceutical Society, itself then only four years old. This is the first college of pharmacy in the West and the tenth in the United States. The objectives of the founders are to “advance pharmaceutical knowledge and elevate the professional character of apothecaries throughout California.”

1873: College affiliates with UC

On June 2, 1873, the college affiliates with the University of California, just three months after the Toland Medical College affiliates. UC now has its first two professional “affiliated colleges.” (In 1881 the College of Dentistry is created by the UC Board of Regents as one of the “affiliated colleges” based in San Francisco. The UC Training School for Nurses is established in 1907, becoming the fourth professional school.)

1874: First student graduates

John J. Heaney is the first pharmacy student to graduate, and he does so alone.

1875: First class graduates

The first pharmacy class of five students graduates from the college.

1884: First woman graduates

Barbat.

Josephine E. Barbat

Josephine E. Barbat is the first female graduate of the college. She continues with the college as an instructor in materia medica and botany. More: Women’s History Month: The first female graduates of UCSF.

1898: College moves to Parnassus

The college moves west—from its downtown San Francisco location to Parnassus Avenue—joined by the affiliated colleges of medicine, dentistry, and veterinary science. A building intended for the Hastings College of Law is occupied instead by an anthropological museum when the law faculty refuses to move.

During its early years the college moves four times: from two rented rooms on Montgomery Street, to Toland Hall on Stockton Street, to the Hall of the Academy of Sciences on Dupont and California Streets, and to a three-story building on Fulton Street.

In 1895, the California Legislature appropriates $250,000 for the Affiliated Colleges of the University of California to be located on a 13-acre site overlooking Golden Gate Park. In 1898, the College of Pharmacy moves to the new affiliated colleges complex on Parnassus Avenue, sharing space with the College of Dentistry.

1934: College integrates fully into the University of California

The Affiliated College of Pharmacy becomes the College of Pharmacy of the University of California on July 1, 1934, at which time an academic curriculum leading to the bachelor’s degree in pharmacy is offered to replace certification in vocational training.

1939: Graduate degrees are established

In 1939, a graduate curriculum leading to the MS and PhD degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry is established at UC Berkeley (migrating to the San Francisco campus in 1958), along with internships in hospital pharmacy and a pharmaceutical technology laboratory.

1955: PharmD degree is established

In 1955, a program of study leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy is established. In keeping with University policy, the College of Pharmacy becomes the School of Pharmacy.

1958: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry forms

The Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry is created within the School.

1964: Campus gains independence

The San Francisco campus of the University of California, operating under the name "University of California, San Francisco Medical Center," is given full administrative independence, becoming the seventh campus in the UC system.

1965: Department of Pharmacy forms

The Department of Pharmacy is created in 1965 and evolves:

  • 1996: The Department of Pharmacy changes its name to the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences.
  • 2009: The Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences reforms as a joint department under the Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine and renames to the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences.

1966–1969: Clinical pharmacy program is established

In 1966, the School of Pharmacy institutes an experimental decentralized pharmacy service in the patient care area of UCSF’s Moffitt Hospital. The success of this service encourages the faculty to adopt a clinical pharmacy program as a new major educational objective of the curriculum. In 1969, a required clinical clerkship program is instituted, which now encompasses the entire training program of the fourth year for the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum.

1970: Campus name changes

The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is renamed to the University of California, San Francisco.

2003: School partly moves to Mission Bay

In 2003, School of Pharmacy faculty member Charles S. Craik, PhD, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, is the first researcher to move to UCSF’s new bioscience campus at Mission Bay. Colleagues from his department and the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences (now called the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences) soon join him, along with other UCSF researchers.

Today

The School administers or co-administers numerous graduate-level academic programs, including those leading to PhD degrees in Bioengineering, Biological and Medical Informatics (Bioinformatics pathway), Biophysics, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics.

As it has for more than 40 years, the School continues to receive more federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other pharmacy school in the nation, which is a testament to its acumen in basic, translational, clinical, health services, and policy research. The School’s agenda now includes the development of new models of pharmacy patient care in the community and new ways to teach pharmacy students to lead a changing profession.

The success of the UCSF School of Pharmacy continues to lie, since it was founded, in its leadership, its staff, and in the collaborative work of its faculty members and their drive to innovate and improve health through therapeutics.

Deans

Photo

Years

Who

Giacomini
2022– Kathleen M. Giacomini
Kearney
2022 Thomas Kearney

Guglielmo

2013–2022

2012–2013 (acting)

B. Joseph Guglielmo

Koda-Kimble

1998–2012

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble

Kenyon

1993–1998

George L. Kenyon

Jorgensen

1979–1981 (acting)

Eugene C. Jorgensen

Goyan

1967–1992

Jere E. Goyan

Daniels

1944–1967

Troy C. Daniels

Schmidt

1937–1944

Carl L. A. Schmidt

Carey

1932–1937 (acting)

Henry B. Carey

Biddle

1927–1932

Henry C. Biddle

Green

1909–1927

Franklin Green

Searby

1891–1909

William M. Searby

Runyon

1885–1891

Edward W. Runyon

Searby

1883–1885

William M. Searby

Painter

1878–1883

Emlen Painter

William T. Wenzell
1872–1878 (president) William T. Wenzell

Faculty, College of Pharmacy, circa 1938

Faculty

Front row: Louis Strait, Frank Goyan, Stephen Dean, Troy Daniels, John Oento, Robertson Pratt. Back row: Warren Kumler, John Walter Millar, John Eiler, Arseny Hrenoff, Julian Wells

Founding of the School’s three departments

1868

University of California is founded

1872

California College of Pharmacy is founded

1873

College of Pharmacy affiliates with the University of California

(Toland Medical College affiliates, 1873; College of Dentistry, 1881; UC Training School for Nurses, 1907)

1934

Affiliated College of Pharmacy becomes the College of Pharmacy of the University of California

1955

College of Pharmacy becomes the School of Pharmacy

1958

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry forms

1964

San Francisco campus of the University of California gains independence under the name "University of California, San Francisco Medical Center" and becomes the ninth campus in the UC system

1965

Department of Pharmacy forms

  • 1996: Department of Pharmacy changes its name to the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences

  • 2009: Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences reforms as a joint department under the Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine and renames as the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences

1973

Division of Clinical Pharmacy forms

  • 1996: Division of Clinical Pharmacy is approved to become the Department of Clinical Pharmacy

Evolution of the campus name

1873: Medical Department of the University of California

The trustees of Toland Medical College deed the college to the University of California Regents; it is named the Medical Department of the University of California.

Since 1873: Affiliated Colleges of the University of California

The California College of Pharmacy, the Medical Department of the University of California, and later the Dental College are called the Affiliated Colleges of the University of California.

1949: University of California Medical Center, San Francisco

The University of California Regents officially designate the Parnassus campus as the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco.

1964: University of California San Francisco Medical Center

(becomes independent, name does not change)

The campus, operating under the name University of California San Francisco Medical Center, receives full administrative independence, becoming the seventh campus in the UC system and the only one devoted exclusively to the health sciences. Provost John B. de C.M. Saunders, MD, becomes the first chancellor.

1970: University of California, San Francisco

The University of California San Francisco Medical Center is renamed University of California, San Francisco.

Note: The colleges were calling themselves schools even before they were officially designated as schools.

This section was written by Polina Ilieva, PhD, CA, Archives and Special Collections, UCSF Library