Facts and Figures

A Capsule History

LIU Pharmacy (The Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences), the oldest unit of LIU, was founded in 1886 (under its original name, The Brooklyn College of Pharmacy) by a group of pharmacists and physicians who had organized themselves as the Kings County Pharmaceutical Society.

In 1929 the College first affiliated with the relatively young LIU (1926) for the purpose of awarding degrees. This affiliation eventually led to a full corporate merger of the College of Pharmacy and the University along with the relocation of the College to the Brooklyn campus of LIU in 1976.

LIU Pharmacy Firsts

• First radioisotope laboratory in a New York State college of pharmacy.
• First college of pharmacy in the United States to participate in the African Scholarship Program of American Universities.
• First Chair in the History and Science and Technology in a college of pharmacy in the United States.
• First M.S. in Pharmacy Administration graduate program in New York State.
• First university-based drug information center in the New York City metropolitan area.
• First M.S. in Drug Information and Communication graduate program in the United States.
• First M.S. in Drug Regulatory Affairs graduate program in the United States.
  
  

Programs of Study

• Doctor of Pharmacy
• Doctor of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration
• B.P.S. in Pharmaceutical StudiesPh.D. in Pharmaceutics
• Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics
• M.S. in Pharmaceutics with Specialization in Industrial Pharmacy
• M.S. in Pharmaceutics with Specialization in Cosmetic Sciences
• M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology
• M.S. in Drug Regulatory Affairs
  
  

Involved Students

LIU Pharmacy students are actively involved in more than 40 student clubs and organizations.

Student Performance

In 2021, LIU Pharmacy graduates had a 65% first-time pass rates for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MJPE)—76%.

Did you know…

For many years, LIU’s basketball team played their games in the gymnasium on the sixth floor of the former pharmacy building. The gym, known as the “Druggist’s Den,” was painted white while LIU wore black uniforms. This led Tom Meany, then a sportswriter for the New York Telegram, to write that the LIU players moved around the court like “a pack of blackbirds.” Legendary LIU basketball coach Clair Bee loved the allusion and the name stuck. The Blackbirds were nearly invincible in the “Druggist’s Den,” amassing 222 wins to just three losses on the pharmacy court in 20 seasons under Coach Bee. The LIU Brooklyn athletic teams were known as the Blackbirds until 2019, when Long Island University merged its athletic programs across all campuses into one unified NCAA Division I program – the Sharks.