St. John’s University College of Pharmacy was established in
1929 when 76 students enrolled in the newly established three-year
Ph.G. (Pharmacy Graduate) degree program under the leadership of
Dr. John Dandreau as the College’s first Dean. The school was
located at 96 Schermerhorn Street in Brooklyn. In 1934 two other
pharmacy degrees were approved by the University Trustees, the
Ph.C. (Pharmacy Chemist which was 44 credits
beyond the Ph.G.) and the first four-year B.S. in Pharmacy degree.
In 1937, the four-year B.S. in Pharmacy degree was recognized as
the mandatory degree to practice pharmacy.
Due to an increase in enrollment following World War II, the
College of Pharmacy temporarily relocated to rented space in the
Brooklyn Eagle Building in 1949 until its new building at 72
Schermerhorn Street was completed in 1952. Dean Dandreau retired in
1956 and Dr. Andrew J. Bartilucci became the College’s second
Dean.
In 1956 the College established its graduate division as it offered
an M.S. program in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. One year
later the M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences was added before the
College relocated to its current location in St. Albert Hall on the
Queens campus in 1958. Rapid growth and expansion continued to
occur as the B.S. in Medical Technology was approved in 1960, a
five-year B.S. in Pharmacy degree
replaced the four-year program in 1960, and a clinical pharmacy
program was established at Mercy Hospital in 1967. The addition of
the B.S. in Toxicology program and the Ph.D. program in
Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1969, and the M.S. in Medical Technology
program in 1971, led the College to change its name to the College
of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions in 1971. Other programs
subsequently added were the M.S. in
Pharmacy Administration in 1972, the B.S. in Physician Assistant in
1975, the College’s first post-B.S. Pharm.D. program in 1977, the
B.S. in Pathologist Assistant in 1980, and the B.S./M.S. program in
Toxicology in 1981.
Dr. Albert Belmonte became the College’s third Dean in 1988 as Dr.
Bartilucci began to serve as University Vice President. Dr.
Belmonte served as Dean until 1995 when Dr.Virginia Galizia became
Acting Dean from 1995 to 1996. Dr. Thomas Wiser served as Dean from
1996-1998 and Dr. Robert A. Mangione was named Acting Dean in 1998
and then the College’s fifth Dean in 1999. The current six-year
Pharm.D. program was introduced in 1998 with the last B.S. in
Pharmacy full class graduating in 2002.