Dean's Note: 120 Years of creating opportunities and overcoming challenges
We are entering our 120th year at the College of Pharmacy, and that is a milestone to celebrate! We started out as the Southern College of Pharmacy, founded in 1903 by a pharmacist, chemist, and a physician. The first class of six students graduated in 1904, making the College the oldest pharmacy school in Georgia. We’ve been in a few locations— starting on Broad Street, then Luckie Street, then Walton Street, then Boulevard (where I attended), and lastly at Mercer’s Atlanta campus—and have been known by a few names–but we’ve always been Atlanta’s hometown pharmacy school. Along the course of our history, Mercer University acquired the College in 1959. We evolved as the profession evolved, innovating with bold leadership. Mercer offered the Doctor of Pharmacy as the sole professional degree in 1981, the first pharmacy school in the Southeast to do so and only the fifth in the country. Under the leadership of Dean Dick Gourley and Dean Ted Matthews, the school became much more active in research and in 1988 launched the Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical sciences, the first Ph.D. program in the history of Mercer University. I hope by now that you know we’ve got a new building on campus coming, which is expected to be completed in late 2023, marking another milestone in our long history.
Today, we have one of the most diverse student bodies in the country. No ethnic or racial group holds a majority, and I’m proud that we educate more Black pharmacists than any other pharmacy school in Georgia. Take note: Our diversity is longstanding. The Class of 1905 was a small class under 10 but included women. We also had a small contingent of students from Cuba. Through a partnership with Clark College, now known as Clark Atlanta University, Ronald Myrick became the first Black graduate in 1967. Longtime Dean Ted Matthews was the second, graduating in 1968.
We’ve had many long-serving professors who enjoy the status of being beloved by generations of graduates. Drs. Richard Jackson, Jim Bartling, Laurel Ashworth, Grady Strom, and now Drs. Nader Moniri and Ajay Banga, too many to name them all, are educators who changed the lives of their students and the communities where our graduates serve. I have served as your dean for five years. Sometimes, I look at the portraits of those who came before me and think about the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and their vision for the College and pharmacy. In 120 years, I am just the eighth dean, a remarkable testimony to the College’s persistence and legacy.
The compelling stories of how our graduates have impacted the world around us are simply inspiring. More profound to me is what our graduates accomplish on Main Street, in institutions, specialty practice and countless other roles in communities large and small. Likewise, our Ph.D. students earn accolade after accolade for their research and serve in industry, academia, and government.
All leaders and industries face turbulent times, and pharmacy education is no different. Nationwide, the number of applicants to pharmacy has dipped by about half since the mid-2000s. We, like every other pharmacy school, need to better educate young people on the many career pathways that pharmacy has to offer. While not disrespecting any practice role, we must broaden our view of opportunities beyond traditional pharmacy pathways. Diverse roles for clinical specialists, integrated health care systems, health outcomes and industry are all growing. I have a list of pharmacy careers in my office that our graduates have pursued and it is at 100 and counting–I recently met an alum who is a full-time clinical specialist in fertility medicine. But let me say this: We have not lowered our standards. The criteria for admission, progression and graduation are the same or higher than ever. We do not and will not accept applicants that we don’t believe are qualified or cannot be good pharmacists.
What separates those who prevail from those who do not is the vision and persistence to achieve a noble goal. I think often of Abraham Lincoln. He failed at running his own business. He failed at farming. He lost elections to the Illinois legislature and Congress. He ran for vice president and lost. His second son died at age 3. He was mentally ill and suffered acute psychiatric episodes. When he was elected president, the nation broke apart. His third son died in the White House at age 11 at the height of the Civil War. Still he persisted and prevailed, ultimately giving his life for his country.
We are positioned to take advantage of emerging opportunities because of our location in Atlanta, the quality of our research enterprise and the commitment of our faculty and staff. We are recruiting new faculty members. We’re finding creative ways to get our story and our message out to young people about opportunities in pharmacy. We’re conducting research that matters. Our graduates live up to Mercer’s vision of changing the world, one student at a time. The University is absolutely committed to an outstanding pharmacy school and evidence of that is the construction of the Moye Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building, now underway.
As I have quoted in previous columns, Aristotle said that excellence is never an accident. It is the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution. For 120 years, the College of Pharmacy has been a place where we value excellence, where knowledge, community, diversity and caring are strengths. For 120 years, we’ve educated role models. We don’t fear the future because our job is to shape it. For 120 years, we’ve taught, learned, created, discovered, inspired, empowered, and served in one place, Atlanta, our home. Our name has changed over the years but never our purpose and never our city. If we’ve learned something over the years, it is that the past is our teacher, not our master. Through thick and thin, we have been strong and persevered. The best is still ahead.
As always, I am honored and grateful to serve as your Dean. Come see us. You’re always welcome on campus.
Yours very sincerely,
Brian L. Crabtree
Professor and Dean
