St. Louis College of Pharmacy history

1865 The first College botany course is taught at Shaw’s Garden (now the Missouri Botanical Garden).

1866 St Louis College of Pharmacy becomes the first chartered college of pharmacy west of the Mississippi River.

1867 The College outgrows its first location and begins renting lecture rooms at the Tilford Building, located on 4th Street (across from the Old Courthouse in downtown St Louis).

1868 The first class of 17 men graduate from the College.

1875 The St Louis College of Pharmacy Alumni Association is founded.

1879 The College’s first pharmaceutical lab is built.

1881 The Missouri Board of Pharmacy is established.

1906 The College establishes merit scholarships for students that are sponsored by Mallinckrodt, Meyer Brothers and J.S. Merrell.

1926 The Board of Trustees purchases property on the southeast corner of Euclid and Parkview Place for $24,000 in, what was then, an emerging medical center in St Louis.

1927 The College moves to its seventh and current location at Parkview Place and Euclid Avenue.

1929 The College’s first fraternity, Chi Iota Phi, is formed.

1931 Students acquire artifacts and build exhibits for a new pharmacy museum, located on the fourth floor and, later, in the library.

1940 St Louis College of Pharmacy is accredited for the first time by ACPE.

1945 The College is renamed St Louis College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences.

1946 The College launches a new course in animal health pharmacy, the first of its kind in the nation.

1947 The student body secures 100% membership in the student chapter of the American Pharmaceutical Association at the College, one of the first and few schools to ever do so.

1951 Lambda Kappa Sigma, the College’s first pharmaceutical sorority, is established.

1952 A Master of Science in Industrial Pharmacy is launched.

1955 A Master of Science in Hospital Pharmacy is launched.

1961 Charles Rabe Jr. becomes the College’s first full-time president.

1962 The College’s name is changed back to St Louis College of Pharmacy, and a new seal is launched.

1963 The Dispensers, the College’s first intercollegiate basketball team, go 7-7 in their inaugural season.

1964 The College celebrates its centennial.

1965 A continuing education program is developed.

1970 Arthur Zimmer receives the first Outstanding Educator Award (later renamed the Joe E. Haberle Outstanding Educator Award) from the Alumni Association.

1978 A new program of externships in community pharmacies and clerkships at clinical practice sites, mandated by ACPE, is initiated.

1981 The College opens Rabe Hall on Forest Park Avenue, formerly the Town and Country apartment complex, which had been renovated as student housing for upperclassmen.

1986 The College begins a $7 million campus renovation — a student center, outdoor quad, two-story addition to the library, and renovations to the main academic building.

1991 The first issue of Script magazine is published.

1993 Intercollegiate sports start up again with both men’s basketball and women’s volleyball.

1995 A new 29,000-square-foot academic building, later named Whelpley Hall, is completed with classrooms, offices, and a 300-seat auditorium.

1996 The first White Coat Ceremony is held.

2001 The first STLCOP C.A.R.E.S. community day of service is created by members of the Student Pharmacists Association.

2009 The College completes a land swap with Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, trading Rabe Hall for 1.2 acres of land adjacent to the College's campus.

2010 The College’s endowment reaches $94 million.

2013 The College opens an Alumni House on Laclede Avenue, two blocks from campus.

2014 The College introduces a seven-year Doctor of Pharmacy with an integrated bachelor’s in health humanities or health sciences.

2015 The Academic and Research Building and Library opens for classes in August.