The UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy: What is in a Name?

BY DEAN GLEN SCHUMOCK

On September 13, 2024, 165 years after our founding, we officially ushered in a new chapter—and a new name. We are now officially the UIC Herbert M. and Carol H. Retzky College of Pharmacy.

As you will read in this issue of The Pharmacist, the new name honors the incredible legacy of support and impact by the Retzkys. Their total giving to the college exceeded $44 million. More importantly, that support has had, and will in perpetuity have, profound impacts on all areas of our mission. Most significantly, it will benefit pharmacy students by providing scholarships, new and extensive career development programs, and contemporary learning and research facilities.

The Retzkys’ support will be transformative for this school. In a time when many pharmacy programs are struggling with enrollment and declining student outcomes, it provides the resources necessary to recruit the best and brightest students and to provide the tools necessary to ensure the most advanced curriculum and learning environment.

Change can be hard. This is a 165-year-old, top-ranked school of pharmacy with tradition and history that many hold dear. But that history, tradition, and pride is not going away. Rather, it is being made stronger. The UIC Retzky name will be synonymous with that history of excellence, innovation, and leadership in pharmacy but also with even greater expectations for the future—as the apex for pharmacy education, research, and service.

And this isn’t the first time we changed our name. In fact, we have had a long succession of names as we have transformed and Online pharmacy.uic.edu