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• 1 2026-10-02T18:27:34+00:00 Western Reserve University School of Pharmacy 12 Bicentennial - this page provides detailed information about the School of Pharmacy plain 2026-10-05T15:27:05+00:00 While CWRU has three health related schools at the present time (School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing), there was also a School of Pharmacy from 1908 to 1949. This School was first established in 1882 as the Cleveland School of Pharmacy by the Cleveland Pharmaceutical Association. According to a letter sent by Edward D. Davy in 1941 detailing the history of the School, a retail pharmacist named E. A Schellentrager was the “originator of the idea of formal training for prospective pharmacists.”  Schellentrager became the first president of the School serving until 1905. The School was chartered under the laws of Ohio as the Cleveland School of Pharmacy on December 20, 1886. The incorporators were Schellentrager, Joseph H. Peck, P. I. Spenzer, G. L. Heckler, George Keiffer, and Henry W. Stecher.
  
  The School became affiliated with Western Reserve University in 1908. It was renamed the Cleveland School of Pharmacy of Western Reserve University (WRU) in 1917. The School closed in 1949.
  
  Curriculum
  
  In the first year, 1 lecture was offered each week for 20 weeks. It was to be a practical elementary course in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Nathan Rosenwasser was the lecturer. In the second year, Stecher and C. W. Kolbe were the lecturers. In the third year the course was extended to 30 lectures with optional lectures 2 evenings a week. No degrees were conferred by the School.
  
  In 1896-1897, the curriculum was expanded to three years leading to the Pharmaceutical Chemist degree. There were three classes: freshman, junior, and senior classes.
  
  At the time the School became part of WRU in the 1908/09 academic year, two degrees were offered, the Pharmaceutical Chemist (Ph.C.) and the Graduate in Pharmacy (Ph.G.). The difference in degrees depended on the high school experience of the student. Students with one year of a “good high school course” received the Ph.G. degree. Students who graduated from high school received the Ph.C. The 2 degrees were almost identical in the theoretical branches. The two-year course was for full-time students, and the tuition was $100 per year. The full-time course included more laboratory work. The three-year course allowed the student time to work in a local drug store. The tuition was $65 per year. 
  
  The Doctor of Pharmacy (Phar.D.) was awarded to candidates who graduated from a “reputable school of pharmacy, who has had at least ten years of pharmaceutical experience since graduation; who presents an acceptable dissertation and who passes an examination before the Committee on Examination.”
  
  Over time the Ph.G. degree became the two-year degree program and Ph.C. became the three-year program. Students were not admitted to the two-year course of study after the 1924/25 academic year. The Ph.C. and B.S. degrees were offered. The Ph.C. degree was not offered after 6/1935, leaving the B.S. as the only degree offered. Graduate work was possible through the Graduate School.
  
  Deans
  
  The deans of the School, 1908-1949, were:
  1908-1911 Henry V. Arny
  1911-1912 Norman A. Dubois
  1912-1913 T. Barnard Tanner
  1913-1916 William C. Alpers
  1916-1940 Edward Spease
  1940-1941 Edward D. Davy, Acting Dean
  1941-1943 Edward D. Davy
  1943-1944 Franklin J. Bacon, Acting Dean
  1944-1949 Arthur P. Wyss
  
  Buildings
  
  The School of Pharmacy was located in downtown Cleveland until 1920 when it moved to a house on Adelbert Road. The buildings used by the School included:
  1882 - part of a floor of Cleveland City Hall
  1900 - 2 floors of Cleveland Gas Light and Coke Company (also called the Gas Building)
  1910-1920 - Ohio Wesleyan Medical School Building
  1920-1949 - 2029/2045 Adelbert Road
  1933 - Pierce Hall
  
  
  In 1921 a garden of medicinal plants was established on campus under the management of the Department of Pharmacognosy. In the Spring of 1929 the garden was transferred to Squire Valleevue Farm.
  
  Plants were cultivated for propagation (for use in the manufacturing laboratory) and research. According to Dean Edward D. Davy, “The School maintains research and manufacturing laboratories, where U.S.P, N.F., and special formulae preparations are made for the hospitals of Cleveland. By agreement between Western Reserve University and the University Hospitals of Cleveland the Head of the Department of Pharmacy in the School of Pharmacy serves as the Directing Pharmacist of the University Hospitals, and the pharmacists in the hospitals become members of the teaching staff of the School. Students are required to take a course in hospital pharmacy under the direction of the hospitals pharmacists. An advanced course in hospital pharmacy is open to students who in the opinion of the faculty show special aptitude and ability.”
  
  Sources
  For more information about the School of Pharmacy, please see the CWRU Archives Sources page.