About the Medication Experts
Rapid Responses With Dean Ellingrod
Our Story at a Glance
Our College Has a Rich History of Firsts, Notable Alumni Who Have Walked Our Halls, and Discoveries That Have Advanced the Profession
Becoming the College of Pharmacy
In 2026, we will celebrate the College of Pharmacy’s 150th birthday (December 29, 1876), but pharmacy courses date back to 1839 when we were a part of the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts when Douglass Houghton, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy was charged with the subjects of Chemistry and Pharmacy.
37 years later, we would appoint our first Dean, Albert Prescott, when the Regents established the ‘School of Pharmacy’ in 1876. Our name was changed to conform to University policy in 1915 to the College of Pharmacy.
Prescott insisted that a pharmacy education be grounded in basic science and fact. At that time, this stance was considered heretical, and he was ostracized by educational and professional establishments. At the time of his death, three decades later, nearly all pharmacy schools in the nation embraced the basic science model.
Notably, going back as early as 1871, we were graduating women and, in 1912, Black Americans (earliest documented). The significance? We were a College open to all and graduating all at a time when they still did not have the right to vote.
Over the next several decades, the College, its academic programs, degrees and curriculum, evolved to establish itself as a leader in research and practice. Interestingly, it wasn’t until the year 2000 that a departmental structure existed, at which point Clinical Science, Social and Administrative Services (now Clinical Pharmacy), Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Medicinal Chemistry were created.
Albert Prescott,
first Dean of the School of Pharmacy
1855
First State University to Establish a Chemistry Lab
1868
Established a Pharmaceutical Chemist Degree
1926
PhD Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry
1951
Expanding Research Enterprise Expands
1953
Studying Transport of Drugs in Biological Systems
A Thriving Research Enterprise is Born
In 1855, U-M was the first state University to establish a chemical laboratory, and in 1868, the College established a Pharmaceutical Chemist degree. Research was important to Dean Prescott, but it wasn’t until the appointment of Frederick Franklin Blicke in 1926 that an active program in graduate education was firmly established, and students had the opportunity to pursue a PhD degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (today, it is known as Medicinal Chemistry). Blicke, outside of being the founder of our nation’s first PhD program is a nationally recognized leader in synthetic organic pharmaceutical chemistry.
It was with the appointment of Dean Thomas Rowe in 1951, that the research enterprise began to expand. He recruited top minds, which accelerated research at the College and advanced the international reputation of our graduate programs. Through his appointment of Dr. Albert Mattocks in 1953, a major effort was established in the pharmaceutics area, which included studying the transport of drugs in biological systems.
The research enterprise was further advanced by hiring some of the greatest minds in the field, which has led to Michigan being recognized as a leader in pharmaceutics research for decades. Some notable research scientists who have made their mark on our College are: Dr. William Higuchi, Dr Anthony Simonelli, Dr. George Zografi, Dr. Norman F.H. Ho, Dr. John G. Wagner, and recently, Dr. Gordon Amidon.
The legacy established by these leading scientists and our current faculty continues to maintain our strength and internationally recognized reputation as medication experts who are regularly brought into federal agencies and pharmaceutical companies to serve as consultants.
Pioneers in Clinical Pharmacy and Practice
Under Rowe’s tutelage, this period in our country’s history was undergoing significant change in both healthcare and the role of the professional pharmacist. The pharmacist’s role experienced a shift to the distribution and control of medicinal agents. Thus creating a new vision for the role, one that had a greater patient orientation and required more education in therapeutics and clinical pharmacology and pathology. Always leading and being ahead of the curve, Rowe saw these changes as an opportunity to reshape and design the curriculum to include professional training, which was led by Dr. Richard Deno. Rowe appointed several faculty, including hiring the first female clinical pharmacist at the College, Rosemary Berardi, in 1968 to build and expand the clinical pharmacy program, teaching hospital pharmacy and developing the first institutional pharmacy practice experiences for PharmD students.
In 1975, the College appointed Dean Ara Paul, who led the establishment of the PharmD as the terminal (entry-level) degree. Up until this point, the BS in Pharmacy was the professional degree. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that the accrediting body, ACPE adopted the PharmD as the only entry-level professional degree – another example of the College leading at pharmacy’s edge. Finally, a cornerstone of Dean Paul’s tenure and his legacy was his recognition of the importance of philanthropy and growing the endowment.
Another major achievement of the 1970’s was the pioneering of a collaborative partnership between the College and U-M Hospital pharmacy services to educate students with hands-on, patient-centric experiences giving them the opportunity to learn from leaders in their specialty practice areas. Over the next five decades, the College would go on to recruit faculty who would rise to achieve national and international prominence in their pharmacy specialty: Lynda Welage (burn and trauma), Sally Guthrie (psychiatric drug therapy), Barry Bleske (cardiology), Peggy Carver (infectious disease) and Hae Mi Choe (hypertension) who established the embedded pharmacist program a model that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2024, is expanding into other states.
Pharmacy Firsts, Notable Alumni and Contributions to the Field
The nation's first college of pharmacy at a state-funded institution.
The first pharmacy degree was conferred in 1869.
Cousins Amelia and Mary Upjohn (descendants of the founder of the Upjohn Company) were the first two women to graduate from Pharmacy in 1871. They are the 3rd and 4th women to graduate from the University of Michigan.
The College founded the Phi Delta Chi Professional fraternity (1883) and Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society (1922).
Dr. Frederick Franklin Blicke is nationally recognized as one of the founders of the field of medicinal chemistry and the founder of the first PhD program in Medicinal Chemistry.
The first PharmD graduation occurred in 1962 with a BS in Pharmacy.
The College was among the first in the nation to establish the PharmD as the entry-level degree (1978) before it was adopted nationally.
In 1984, the first PharmD class (as we know it today) graduated.
Rosemary Berardi, a PharmD alumna, was the first woman clinical pharmacist and the first PharmD appointed to the College faculty in 1969.
Vicki Ellingrod was appointed the first female Dean of the College in 2021.
Josiah K Lilly Jr., is an alumnus, the grandson of the founder of the Eli Lilly Company.
John Gideon Searle, is an alumnus, the grandson of the founder of G. D. Searle.
Charles Walgreen Jr. and Charles Walgreen III are alumni and the son and grandson of the founder of Walgreens, one of the nation's largest drugstore chains.
Hans Vahlteich, an alumni and patent holder of the chemical process for margarine, is also known for helping to transform Hellmann’s Mayonnaise into a household name.
Tiffany Ofili Porter is an alumna, track and field athlete and three-time Olympian.
Gordon Amidon, an alumnus and creator of the Biopharmaceutical Drug Classification system.
Joseph Burckhalter, an alumni, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for isothiocyanate compounds for antigen identification.
John G. Wagner, U-M faculty member, internationally recognized as a founding father of the scientific discipline of pharmacokinetics.
College Awards
Teaching Excellence
Award
This Award Recognizes Exceptional Teaching in College of Pharmacy PharmD and PhD Programs
Peg Carver, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP
An Advocate of Lifelong Learning, wins 2024 Teaching Excellence Award
Preceptor of the Year
Award
The Award Recognizes an Exceptional Volunteer Faculty Preceptor to Our PharmD Students
Dr. Cecret Tacker
Named U-M College of Pharmacy’s Preceptor of the Year
Ara G. Paul Philanthropic Award
This Award Recognizes Someone Who Embodies Ara’s Philanthropic Spirit
Dr. Tim Cunniff
Recipient of the Ara G. Paul Philanthropic Distinction Award
Leading Today to Make the Impacts of Tomorrow
Our Nationally Ranked #2 College of Pharmacy Is Situated Within the Nationally Ranked University of Michigan and a Preeminent Healthcare Ecosystem
