This year, 2023, marks 100 years since the College of Pharmacy opened its doors at the University of Florida. The Florida Pharmacy Association first recommended the state establish a school of Pharmacy back in 1895, but it took 28 years for that to happen, with UF enrolling the first class, 45 students, in 1923. Since that time, the UF COP has had a lot of firsts: the first UF college to offer the PhD (1930); graduated the first woman with a masters degree from UF (1932); the first co-ed college at UF (1935); and, graduating UF’s first African-American PhD (Ira Robinson; 1966).
UF has had some knocks in the last year or two, but we’re still confident we can carry on the tradition of progress, creating excellent scientists, and moving the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical outcomes forward.