Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy - History

History

The Ernest Mario School of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,traces its origin to 1892, when a group of concerned pharmacists decided that New Jersey’s citizens needed a pharmacy school of their own. The New Jersey College of Pharmacy, chartered by the State of New Jersey as an independent college, was located in a building on High Street in downtown Newark. The School’s first two graduates completed its part-time evening program in 1894.

From these humble beginnings, the College slowly grew and by the early 1920s achieved recognition by the national accrediting agency for pharmacy. From its newly constructed building at 1 Lincoln Avenue in Newark’s north ward, the New Jersey College of Pharmacy was formally incorporated into Rutgers University in 1927. Shortly thereafter, following national trends, the four-year Bachelor of Science degree was adopted as the standard for all its graduates.

The College’s enrollment expanded significantly with the influx of veterans after World War II, and in the late 1940s, the school established graduate programs in the pharmaceutical sciences, first offering the Master of Science and then the Doctor of Philosophy. In the early 1960s, again following national trends, the four-year BS curriculum was expanded to a five-year program. And once again, the school outgrew its space. With strong alumni support, a new building was planned and built on the University’s science campus (now the Busch Campus) in Piscataway. William Levine Hall opened in 1971.

Beginning in the late 1970s, the research programs of the College of Pharmacy expanded significantly with more basic science faculty and more funding from the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies. The College became a leader among U.S. pharmacy schools in external funding. Once more there was a need for expansion and renovation. Today, the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and William Levine Hall now provide laboratories, offices, and classrooms for our faculty and students.

In the 1980s, with the development of innovative clinical programs in collaboration with leading New Jersey hospitals, community pharmacies, and the pharmaceutical industry, additional clinical faculty joined the School. In 1988, the school established the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. By 2003, in conformance with changed national standards, the PharmD became the sole professional degree.

In the 1990s the school created a post-doctoral fellowship program to train graduates for careers in the pharmaceutical industry. Now the largest program of its kind in the nation, the Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship program attracts top graduates from pharmacy schools throughout the U.S.