Timeline

1903: UGA authorizes the establishment of a School of Pharmacy, housed in Science Hall. Dr. Samuel C. Benedict, a local physician, is appointed as the School’s Chair of Materia Medica.

1908: The school graduates its first class. E. Brown, A. Dwight Deas, William H. Hatcher, and James A. Redfern receive Pharmacy Graduate (PhG) degrees.

1914: Robert C. Wilson becomes Director of the School of Pharmacy following the death of Dr. Benedict.

1924: Robert C. Wilson becomes Dean of the School of Pharmacy.

1925: The first women graduate from the School of Pharmacy. They are Gloria Miller, Evelyn O’Quinn, and Marcella Richardson.

1930: The first Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree is awarded to W. Taylor Sumerford.

1939: The School of Pharmacy receives accreditation by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, and relocates from Terrell Hall to New College on the UGA campus.

1948: Dr. Kenneth L. Waters (MS ’37) becomes Dean of the School of Pharmacy.

1952: The first Master of Science in Pharmacy degree is awarded to William D. Easterly.

1964: A new building on UGA’s South Campus becomes home to the School of Pharmacy.

1967: The first PhD degree is awarded to Billie W. Wickliffe (BSPharm ’59, MS ’63), one of the College’s first female faculty.

1970: William T. Robie III is the first African American graduate of the School of Pharmacy.

1973: UGA School of Pharmacy initiates a clinical collaboration program with the (then) Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, a precursor of the extended campus model used across Georgia.

1977: Dr. Howard C. Ansel becomes Dean of the School of Pharmacy.

1978: The home of the School of Pharmacy is renamed the R.C. Wilson Building in honor of Dean Emeritus Robert C. Wilson, who celebrates his 100th birthday.

1983: The School’s first Doctor of Pharmacy degrees are awarded to Kathryn T. Andrusko, Gary W. Ballard, Patricia Caldwell, and Steven J. Lipman.

1983: The School of Pharmacy is renamed the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, in recognition of a departmental structure and an expanded mission.

1991: Dr. Stuart Feldman becomes Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

1995: Professor Dr. C.K. David Chu, invents the nucleoside analog Clevudine, later marketed worldwide for the treatment of hepatitis B.

1999: Dr. Svein Øie becomes Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

2006: Dr. Marie Chisholm-Burns (BSPharm ’92, PharmD ’93) is the first female and African American to be promoted to Professor in the College of Pharmacy.

2009: Pharmacy South opens adjacent to the R.C. Wilson Building.

2009: The first graduates of the International Biomedical Regulatory Sciences program are Michelle Whittaker (MS) and Trey Thorenson (MS).

2015: Inaugural graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree program are Sara Pennington, Adam Foskey, Kristen Peissig, David Schubach, Eled Gebrehiwot, Michael Mills, and Taylor Greenfield.

2018: Dr. Kelly M. Smith (BSPharm ’92, PharmD ’93) becomes Dean of the College of Pharmacy.

2020: College of Pharmacy generates more than $9.5M in extramural grant funding.

2021: College of Pharmacy students and faculty administer 3469 COVID-19 vaccinations across Georgia.

2023: The College of Pharmacy expands its academic offerings to 23 degree and certificate programs.

2023: Almost 50% of the PharmD graduating class enters postgraduate training.