History

Founded in 1881 as the Department of Pharmacy of Union University, the College was the vision of Archibald McClure, President of an Albany pharmaceutical firm, and his colleagues.

The College shared facilities with Albany Medical College in an old schoolhouse in downtown Albany until the 1920s, when the schools constructed their own buildings. The College expanded that facility in 1956 and then again in 1982.

ACP maintains a reputation as one of the finest pharmacy institutions in the world. The College began with a faculty of three teaching only four courses. Today, there are more than 80 full-time faculty teaching more than 110 courses! New programs developed in recent years to complement the traditional pharmacy curriculum are Bachelor of Science degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biomedical Technology (the latter with concentrations in Cytotechnology and Clinical Laboratory Sciences), and a Certificate Program in Cytotechnology.