History

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

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.