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Victorian College of Pharmacy turns 125

14 June 2006

The Victorian College of Pharmacy last week celebrated its 125th anniversary with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at 360 Swanston Street, Melbourne -- one of the college's earliest sites.

From left: Mr John Jackson, Professor Colin Chapman and Mr Alistair Lloyd celebrate 125 years of the Victorian College of Pharmacy.

The college was established in 1881 by the Pharmaceutical Society of Victoria, making it the first pharmacy college in Australia and only the third in the English-speaking world.

It was first established at the Melbourne Industrial and Technological Museum in Swanston Street before moving to Fitzroy and then to the former County Court building at 360 Swanston Street, now part of RMIT University, in 1884. The college moved to its present site in Royal Parade, Parkville, in 1960.

More than 120 people attended the celebration, many of them graduates from the early days of the college.

College Foundation chair and college graduate Mr Alistair Lloyd said alumni of the Swanston Street site had fond memories of their years at the college.

"One of the things I remember clearly was the relatively formal way of running the course," he said. "I remember the girls sat down one side of the room and boys down the other, all in alphabetical order. I also remember the smells that permeated the building from the laboratories."

Mr John Coppock, Chairman of the Boards of Pharmaceutical Defence Limited and the Australian Pharmaceutical Publishing Company, unveiled the plaque.

Mr Coppock said while the pharmacy profession was well serviced by pharmacy organisations such as the Society and the Guild, academics were the engine room of the industry as they produced future pharmacists.

He said the plaque would be a permanent reminder of the origins of pharmacy education in Victoria.

Mr Brian Grogan, National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and Mr John Jackson, President of the Pharmaceutical Society (Victorian branch), also spoke and congratulated the college on its development.

The Dean of the Victorian College of Pharmacy, Professor Colin Chapman, said Swanston Street was a significant location in the college's history.

He said the college had since developed into an internationally recognised pharmacy school and had gone on to become the first faculty of pharmacy in Australia.

For information on events celebrating the college's 125th anniversary, visit the Victorian College of Pharmacy website.