University of Michigan College of Pharmacy Celebrates 150 Years of Leading at Pharmacy’s Edge

Media Contact: Lindsay Groth, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications [email protected]  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Ann Arbor, Mich.) – The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy is celebrating its 150th anniversary – marking a century and a half of transforming patient care and outcomes through scientific discovery and clinical innovation. As the first and oldest pharmacy school at a state university and currently ranked #2 nationwide, the College has shaped education, discovered medications, and advanced patient care in the field.

When the College opened its doors in 1876, pharmacy looked vastly different. The closest thing to a wonder drug was limited-use concoctions (e.g., the laxative), usually derived from naturally occurring compounds, nostrums containing heavy metals, opiates, and/or alcohol. Today, pharmacists are the center of precision medicine, developing advanced drug therapies and new care models, and are critical members of care teams to support decision-making and provide daily patient education – serving as a patient’s most accessible healthcare professional.

“For 150 years, this College has been advancing both the science and the practice of pharmacy to improve people’s lives,” said Dean Vicki Ellingrod, the College’s first female dean. “While the field has evolved drastically since our founding, our commitment to educating the next generation of leaders, discovering and developing safe, effective and innovative medications, and pushing practice forward with new models of care has never changed.”

That commitment is evident in the College’s distinguished faculty and the more than 5,000 alumni enhancing patient care and outcomes across the globe  – from the bench to the bedside, in boardrooms and communities, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Among them:

• Rosemary Berardi, the College’s first woman clinical pharmacist and first PharmD faculty member.
• Hans Vahlteich, whose chemical process for margarine transformed consumer food products, played a pivotal role in elevating Hellmann’s Mayonnaise into a household staple.
• Joseph Burckhalter, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for developing isothiocyanate compounds for antigen identification.
• Gordon Amidon, developer of the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) still used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today.
• Hae Mi Choe, who created the Hypertension Pharmacist Program, a pharmacist-centric care model that has been adopted by the CDC as the national model for controlling high blood pressure in patients.

The College is entering its next era of impact as it prepares to relocate in 2026 to a new, six-floor, 142,000-square-foot academic facility – the first mass-timber building on the University’s campus. Located between the central and medical campuses, the building will expand learning environments, research capacity and opportunities for students to train alongside clinicians within our world-renowned health system and #1 hospital in the state, Michigan Medicine.

“There is so much ahead,” said Dean Ellingrod. “As we celebrate 150 years, and look ahead to our next 150, our vision is bold: First, we want to cover tuition for every student to make a Michigan pharmacy education more accessible. Next, we want to significantly increase research funding, including named professorships, so our faculty and PhD students are afforded the freedom to take greater risks in their research and accelerate scientific discovery. These investments will ensure that our next generation of Pharmacy leaders have the opportunity to change lives, influence healthcare policy and deliver better outcomes for every patient we serve.”

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About the College of PharmacyThe University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been leading at pharmacy’s edge for 150 years. The first and oldest pharmacy school at a state university, the College — currently ranked #2 in the nation — has and continues to shape education in the field. Its faculty are internationally recognized and are innovators in drug discovery, development and delivery, precision pharmacotherapy, outcomes research, and clinical practice. More than 5,000 alumni are enhancing patient care and outcomes from the bench to the bedside, in boardrooms and communities, government agencies, and within healthcare companies. Learn more about the College of Pharmacy