Dean Henry C. Biddle

Dean, 1927–1932

Henry C. Biddle, PhD chemist and dean from 1927 to 1932, was involved in a curriculum crisis. In 1927 the administration of what was then called the California College of Pharmacy of the Affiliated Colleges of the University of California, in San Francisco, encouraged the legislature to mandate a three-year pharmacy course as a prerequisite to the licensing examination administered by the California State Board of Pharmacy. The trustees of the College also instituted the four-year program recommended by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Ironically, Biddle sat on the five-member board, but the trustees insisted on also retaining the popular three-year program.

Under the direction of Dean Biddle, the College briefly resigned its membership in the AACP rather than lose accreditation. The situation was resolved under the administration of Dean Carey, when the four-year curriculum became standard.

Biddle spoke and wrote about the ethical component of pharmacy practice, “One of the great responsibilities, indeed, resting upon present-day pharmaceutical education is stressing the vision of professional idealism in the higher fields of service.”

Source: “A History of UCSF,” UCSF Library.