Students at the University of Sydney
Early women students and graduates
In 1881 Senate unanimously decided to allow the admission of women, and the passing of the University Amendment Act in 1884 secured the legal rights of women at Sydney University.
The "Materia Medica - Course for Pharmacy Students" was introduced in 1899. The following year, the second cohort of 20 Pharmacy students included one woman who became the first academically trained woman to register as a pharmacist in NSW in 1902.
On this webpage:
- Milestones
- Gallery — In the early 1900s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and today
Click on images for enlargement.
– View more information and photos about early Pharmacy students.
FACULTY OF PHARMACY 2000
Milestones
| 5 women were registered as pharmacists in NSW. | |
| 1883: | Rudiments of Pharmacology (Materia Medica) were first taught in the Medical School. |
| 1897: | The Pharmacy Act provided for the establishment of the Pharmacy Board of NSW and for the University of Sydney's entry into the field of pharmacy education, so that pharmacists would be better trained and examined by the new Pharmacy Board on a part-time basis. |
| 1899: | A course entitled "Materia Medica - Course for Pharmacy Students" - which became the Diploma in Pharmacy in 1918 - was introduced in the Faculty of Medicine, with unmatriculated students attending courses of lectures prescribed by the Pharmacy Board. |
| Registration as a pharmacist required: attendance at University lectures and passing the exams in Chemistry, Botany and finally Materia Medica, apprenticeship with a pharmacist, and passing the final Pharmacy Board examination. | |
| 1900: | The second cohort of 20 Pharmacy students included Louisa Wilson, the first woman. |
| 1902: | Louisa Wilson became the first academically trained woman to register as a pharmacist in NSW. However she died during the flu epidemic in 1919. |
| 1910s: | In this decade, 16 women pharmacists were registered in NSW. |
| 1916: | Annie Orr (later Fisher) was the first female pharmacist to graduate Bachelor of Science, and went into partnership with her father in the Strathfield Pharmacy, The Boulevard, Strathfield – J B Orr and Daughter – but left after her marriage. |
| 1918: | The Department of Pharmacy was established within the Faculty of Medicine, and a Diploma in Pharmacy, towards registration as a pharmacist, was introduced. |
| 1923: | Mary Nicol was the first woman student to win the Pharmaceutical Society of NSW Prize for Materia Medica taken by Pharmacy students, having passed her examinations with High Distinction. |
| 1924: | There were 293 Pharmacy students, including 29 women, with enrolments increasing dramatically. |
| 1933: | The Department of Pharmacy was transferred to the Faculty of Science. |
| 1939: | Joyce Mallaby (later Hissey) passed the final University Pharmacy exam in December, and became the first woman to open a pharmacy (in the front of the house) in South Australia in 1948. |
| 1949: | Roland Thorp took up the Chair of Pharmacology, which he held until his retirement in 1975, and was Director of Pharmacy. |
| 1960: | Training in Pharmacy was elevated to a full-time Bachelor of Pharmacy degree course in the Faculty of Science, with Pharmacology as a major component. This marked the beginning of Pharmacy degree programs in Australia. |
| 1963: | The first 61 students who graduated Bachelor of Pharmacy included 23 women. |
| 1997: | The BPharm became a 4-year degree, with the first graduates in 2001. |
| 1998: | Elizabeth Frost (BPharm 1963) became the first female President of the Pharmacy Board of NSW. |
| Margaret Stork (later Bickle) (Materia Medica 1950) was the first woman to be awarded the degree of Master of Pharmacy (honoris causa) by the University. | |
| 2000: | Pharmacy became a separate faculty, the first in Australia. |
| 2001: | The Women for Pharmacy Committee was set up as a committee of the University's Pharmacy Alumni Association, to help women in pharmacy reach their full potential. |
| 2008: | Lynn Bronger (BPharm 1975) was made an Honorary Fellow of the University. |
| 2012: | There were 952 women enrolled in the Faculty of Pharmacy and 547 men. |
Gallery
In the early 1900s
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On 12 July 1900, Ida Croft was one of the |
A group of Pharmacy students in 1910, photo G3_224_0171, University of Sydney Archives.
In the 1930s
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In the 1940s
Pharmacy student Gwendoline Bowie who was a VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment member) in 1940, photo, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 May 1940, National Library of Australia.
Three 1940s Materia Medica graduates Margaret Lawrence (c1948), Patricia Kelly (1946) and Maureen Baxter (c1948), members of the Association of Women Pharmacists of NSW, in December 1950 (Patricia Kelly was President), photo, The Sunday Herald, 24 December 1950, National Library of Australia.
In the 1950s
Professor Roland Thorp with student pharmacists Jean Gore and June Snape, photo from 'The Sydney Morning Herald', 11 August 1950, National Library of Australia. Jean Gore passed Materia Medica in 1951. June Snape passed Materia Medica in 1951 with distinction, winning the Women Pharmacists' Association Prize and sharing the Pharmaceutical Society of NSW Prize for Materia Medica.
Pharmacy I student Barbara Aldrich at the dance given by University students Dick Traill and Rick Shand at Killara on 16 May 1953, photo, Sunday Herald, 17 May 1953, National Library of Australia.
Pharmacy student Therese Stormon (centre) at the Commemoration Day ball at the Trocadero on 11 May 1954, photo, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 1954, National Library of Australia.
In the 1960s
Third year Bachelor of Pharmacy students and staff in 1963, Photo G3_224_1754, University of Sydney Archives - click on image to view names.
Janette Roberts graduated BPharm with Hons in 1968. She was awarded the Faculty's 2011 Pharmacy Alumni Award, photo, FIAT Mist, June 2011.
In the 1970s
Lyn Bronger graduated BPharm in 1975. The Chancellor the Hon Justice Kim Santow conferred the title of Honorary Fellow of the University on Lyn in 2008, photo, copyright, Memento Photography.
In the 1980s
Genevieve Daly graduated BPharm in 1987 and MHA in 2005. She is Senior Oncology Pharmacist at the Centre for Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders, Sydney Children’s Hospital, photo, FIAT Mist, March 2012.
Today
Christa Nath completed a PhD in 2002 from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney after finishing a science degree at the University of New England. Her current position is Pharmacokineticist at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, photo, FIAT Mist, March 2012.
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In 2008 Natalie Tasker (final year BPharm student) was named NSW Pharmacy Student of the Year by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, photo, UniNews ... more |
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In 2009 PhD student Joyce Gong, who |
In 2009 Claire O'Reilly, a PhD student in Pharmacy, was awarded the Young Pharmacists Group (YPG) Grant for Professional Innovation, photo, UniNews October 2009. The announcement was made by the International Pharmaceutical Federation Board of Directors during the Congress in Istanbul. Claire’s project was Reducing Mental Health Stigma: Development of an E-learning Programme for Pharmacists. In 2012, Dr O'Reilly is an Associate Lecturer in the Faculty.
Associate Professor Simon Barrie and Jessica Pace who won the PSA Prize for Proficiency in Pharmacy 1st year, the Walter Noel Gillies Scholarship for Pharmacy in Proficiency in 1st year and an Academic Merit Prize at the Faculty Awards Ceremony held on 30 April 2012, photo, FIAT Mist, July 2012.
Information sources
- The Faculty of Pharmacy's history
- The Discipline of Pharmacology's history
- 'Australia's first: A history of the University of Sydney, Vol 1 1850 - 1939' by Clifford Turney, Ursula Bygott and Peter Chippendale
- University of Sydney Calendar Archive
- National Library of Australia historic newspapers
- NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
- NSW State Records - Chemists
Lis Bergmann, 2013