Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department History

By Dr. Robert Peterson

The University of Utah approved the opening of a College of Pharmacy beginning in 1946. Dr. Hiner began his duties as Dean of the College one year later. The new college was housed on the third floor of the women’s gymnasium. Physical facilities (desks, workbenches, and other essential facilities) were non-existent and had to be constructed in a makeshift manner. No chemicals were available except for the few which were contributed by other colleges. Most classes were taught in classrooms in other buildings, sometimes quite remote from the College of Pharmacy. Research projects were carried out in small rooms, or, in some cases, within the offices. Dean Hiner often used the phrase "we didn’t start from scratch—we had to make the scratch first." Dean Hiner served as the guiding force for the college until the department was authorized in 1965. At that time, one of the two approved departments was identified as the Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS). At that time R.V. Petersen was asked to serve as department chairman. J.D. McMahon was the other member of the department faculty. The primary responsibilities of the faculty were to teach methods of compounding and dispensing pharmaceuticals. Labs were an integral part of these courses. Other courses taught included Cosmetics, Jurisprudence, History of Pharmacy, pharmacy business courses, and supervision of graduate student activities.

In October 1966, the new College of Pharmacy building, identified as L.S. Skaggs Hall, was completed and ready for occupancy. This facility provided adequate areas for offices, laboratories, classrooms, and other functions. This opened the door for many new activities. (Since that time, many alterations have been made to accommodate changes in teaching, research, and other functions.)

Two factors had an enormous influence on pharmaceutical education. The first was the explosive growth of the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry during and following WW-2. Mass production of ready-made dosage forms made the teaching of compounding skills of limited importance. The second factor was the emergence of new approaches to increasing the basic science content of the curriculum. Disciplines identified as physical pharmacy and pharmaceutics were being adopted by progressive colleges of pharmacy. At this point, the Department of APS elected to redesign it’s curriculum and adopt these latter goals. Dr. S.M. Fang, who had expertise in pharmaceutics, and Dr. J.R. Cardinal, who had expertise in physical pharmacy, were added to the faculty at this time. These actions proved to be well accepted and led to a change in the name of the department to Department of Pharmaceutics.

Another factor, which had a profound effect on the Department, was the increasingly significant research on development of artificial organs originated and directed by Dr. W. Kolff. This involved scientists from a broad range of academic disciplines. Many of the materials used in the search on artificial organs appeared to offer promise as possible devices for regulation of release of drugs, especially in the development of controlled-release pharmaceutical dosage forms. It was theorized that the department of Pharmaceutics could benefit from the technology being generated. A key participant in these programs was Dr. S. W. Kim, who initiated new research programs in drug delivery based on polymeric biomaterials. Dr. J.D. Andrade and Dr. Don Olson (director of the artificial heart program) could play important roles in pharmaceutical research. These scientists agreed to accept auxiliary appointments in the Department of Pharmaceutics. Through these three persons, highly qualified scientists throughout the world (USA, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Japan and Korea etc.) were identified and cooperative programs were sought. These efforts were highly successful and several adjunct appointments and cooperative projects were realized. As anticipated some of the contributions to the pharmacy profession include the use of polymers in the formulation of controlled or sustained-release pharmaceuticals, transdermal drug delivery devices, self-regulated release of insulin, etc.

A highly significant event in the growth of pharmaceutics was the appointment of Dr. W.I. Higuchi as Chairman of the Department in 1982. Dr. Higuchi is one of the most respected scientists in the world in his areas of expertise - Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biopharmaceutics. Since he was appointed chairman of the Department, productivity in scientific research, and related activities has gained international respect. He also negotiated a change in the name of the department to Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. As department chairman, he made several key appointments to the faculty. These include Dr. J. Fox (dec.), Dr. B. Anderson, Dr. J. Herron, Dr. K. Knutson, Dr. J. Kopecek, and Dr. J. Balthasar.

The department has become a leader in receiving grants and awards. In recent years, faculty members in the department have received some very prestigious awards. Among these awards are notably, Dr. Higuchi’s Lifetime Achievement in Pharmaceutical Sciences Award, Dr. Kim’s election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and Dr. Kopecek’s Controlled Release Society’s Founders Award.