University of the Sciences history

In 1825, PCP began publishing the first academic journal in the United States dedicated to pharmacy.

Later, PCP professors Franklin Bache and George B. Wood compiled a comprehensive commentary on drugs, The Dispensatory of the United States of America, which was first published in 1833.

Proctor, considered the Father of American Pharmacy, graduated from PCP in 1837 and went on to teach at the College.

Founded and organized in Philadelphia on October 6 1852, it is now called the American Pharmacists Association (APhA)—the first-established and largest professional association of pharmacists in the United States.

Although matriculation was originally limited to men, the college became coeducational in 1876, when Doctor Clara Marshall, later dean of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, began attending lectures there.

Soon after, Maisch began to share his proposal with each governor and, by 1878, nine states had adopted pharmacy laws which licensed pharmacists.

In 1883, Doctor Susan Hayhurst was conferred a degree in pharmacy, thus becoming the college’s first female graduate, and the first woman in the United States to be granted a degree in pharmacy.

In 1885, PCP professor Joseph P. Remington published The Practice of Pharmacy, which soon became established as the standard text in the field.

By 1898, she was serving as the director of the pharmaceutical department of the Women's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In 1916, PCP substantially expanded its student enrollment and scope via a merger with another prominent Philadelphia pharmacy school.

On September 28, 1918, hundreds of thousands of people flooded Broad Street for the Liberty Loans Parade, a super-spreader event that would transmit the "Spanish flu" across the city.

In 1920, to reflect its broader scope, the institution changed its name to Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, with state authorization to grant not only the baccalaureate degree, but also the master's and doctorate in all four disciplines.

In 1921, the name of the institution was changed to Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, with state authorization to grant not only the baccalaureate degree, but also the master’s and doctorate in all four disciplines.

The University’s iconic Griffith Hall, named in 1966 in honor of former President Ivor Griffith, still looks as majestic today as it did on the day it was dedicated.

In February 1997, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approved the institution's application for university status.

Seventeen months later, on July 1, 1998, the institution officially changed its name to University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP), to reflect the broad spectrum of new health and science programs introduced by the institution.

Andrew M. Schocket, Founding Corporate Power in Early National Philadelphia (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press), 2007.

The McNeil Science and Technology Center, dedicated to ROBERT L. McNEIL, Jr., P’38, former University professor, and former CEO of McNeil Laboratories in 2009, is the home of biological sciences, math, physics, and computer science, and offers a wealth of lab and study space.

The 22nd edition was published in September 2012 jointly by Pharmaceutical Press and University of the Sciences.

In 2019, the university opened the Living & Learning Commons, a mixed-use residence hall with classroom, retail, living, and learning spaces.

In 2020, University of the Sciences launched USciences Online, a division of the university dedicated to providing degree and certificate programs through fully online learning.

On June 9, 2021, the Universities announced formal merger proceedings.