A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY occurs this year, as the Class of 2008 at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy becomes the 50th group of professional pharmacists to enter service. A storied history, current vibrancy and a hope for an even brighter future mark the 50th anniversary of this distinguished school.

While students have gone from earning a four-year bachelor of science degree to a five-year bachelor’s degree and now to a six-year doctor of pharmacy, the dedication of pharmacists to their role in health care has remained constant. The seats at the university that lead to this professional degree have been in high demand for many decades. Today, only one person is admitted per 15 applications.

Pharmacists educated at URI are providing care in a wide array of community, hospital, clinic, physician-office and senior-care practice settings. Demand for their services in managing medication therapy and helping people avoid the associated risks in any medical intervention grow daily as the population ages and new therapies for age-old health challenges enter the market.

Graduates also work in the pharmaceutical industry in research, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, sales and marketing. The doctor of pharmacy is said to have 180 career options associated with it, and numerous grads go on to other professional degree combinations in law, medicine, dentistry and business. The college can boast of many alumni who are leaders in community, institutional and corporate pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry, public health, military health systems and many other callings.

However, the main theme of the story of the these 50 years centers on the faculty and staff responsible for instilling in our students the professionalism, the ethics and the dedication to the covenant pharmacists have with their patients. This list is surprisingly lengthy for a small college. The names of the late Professors George E. Osborne, Anthony M. Paruda, Al Taubman, David Defanti, C.I. Smith, Raymond Panzica and John DeFeo have all been noted in recent conversations I’ve enjoyed.

Other key professors are still living in Rhode Island and elsewhere: Howard Bond, Chris Rhodes, Eli Abushanab, Joe Turcotte and Lois Vars have also been a significant part of the college’s and our alumni’s success. Our three deans so far, Heber W. Youngken Jr., Louis A. Luzzi and Donald E. Letendre, are remembered by students as great leaders.

There are also five cornerstones of excellence in teaching, research and service that we honored at our gala earlier this year:

Joan Lausier, professor and associate dean, was the first woman to join the faculty, in 1971. Her Down East humor, leadership and exceptional competence have been critical to the development of almost every student, faculty member and staff member for more than 40 years. She recently noted that between her undergraduate work and graduate work at URI, she had been at the college 45 of the 50 we celebrate. Prof. Al Swonger, who started as a rookie with Professor Lausier, has been a student favorite his entire career. Teaching pharmacology to pharmacists, nurses, psychologists and others at the university, Dr. Swonger, in explaining the central-nervous-system effects of drug products, was inspiring in expanding understanding of caring for patients using potent medicinals. Prof. Emeritus Leonard Worthen taught public health and inspired graduates to leadership in the public, Indian and military health services. Professor, lawyer and college ambassador Norman Campbell is probably our most nationally renowned leader. Norm continues to instill ethical standards, professionalism and leadership through his continuous teaching and through example. Prof. Emeritus Yuzuru Shimizu, our final cornerstone, hails from the Pharmacognosy Department, where his world-class research on red tide and drugs from the sea, as well as his teaching about natural products, shaped many alumni. He continues his mentoring today.

Rhode Islanders have recognized the importance of the college to the health of the state. We are grateful for their support of a $65 million bond issue two years ago for a new pharmacy facility in the northern district of the Kingston Campus. That facility, along with the nearly completed Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, will make that section of campus a hub of biomedical, biotechnical and other life-science research. We owe a great debt to our state, and we will continue to keep its people at the forefront of our teaching, research and outreach.

Our pride in Rhode Island, our historic pharmacy leaders and our current students, alumni and faculty could not be greater. As leaders in pharmacy education in the new millennium, we will be able to accept greater numbers of the best and brightest students, expand our research, and fortify our outreach efforts. As we continue to celebrate our 50th year, Rhode Islanders can take pride in having one of the best colleges of pharmacy in America.

Ronald P. Jordan is a registered pharmacist, and interim dean of the URI College of Pharmacy.