Pharmacists whose work changed medicine, business and society.
Before discovering penicillin, Fleming already had a reputation for excellence in medical and chemical research. After watching many soldiers die of sepsis from infected wounds during World War I, he actively researched drugs with antiseptic properties.
His discovery of penicillin in 1928 was completely accidental, yet it gave the world its first antibiotic. Penicillin is still used to treat a wide range of illnesses today.
Source: whatuni.com
Boots Pharmacy was started by Jesse’s father, John Boot, but it was Jesse who turned it into a global company. The original 1877 idea was to provide “health for a shilling”, making medicines affordable for people on low incomes.
Goods were bought in bulk and sold at lower prices than competitors. Boots remains a thriving business known for quality at fair prices.
Source: whatuni.com
Coca-Cola was invented by trained pharmacist John Pemberton. It was first sold as “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca”.
By 1886, concerns over alcohol in drinks led Pemberton to experiment with a base syrup and carbonated water, creating the drink we know today.
Source: whatuni.com
With a degree in pharmacy, the sky is the limit. Hubert Humphrey held a licence to practise pharmacy and became a major political force, serving as Vice President under Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1968 he ran for President and lost narrowly to Richard Nixon.
Source: whatuni.com
As a pharmacist’s assistant, Sertürner was the first chemist to isolate morphine from opium, in 1805.
His continuing research into its effects is the reason we can use morphine for pain relief today.
Source: whatuni.com
A Florida pharmacist and World War II airman, Green used red veterinary petrolatum on his skin as a barrier against the sun.
After the war he added cocoa butter and coconut oil to the formula, creating what became Coppertone suntan lotion.
Source: Pharmacy Times
Before he became famous as Thor in the Avengers films, the Australian actor paid his bills by working at a pharmacy.
Source: Pharmacy Times
A famous academician and chemist, he founded Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, India’s first pharmaceutical company.
Though not trained as a pharmacist, Prof. Schroff gave direction to both pharmaceutical education and industry in India through his understanding, capacity and broad vision.
In 1932, at Banaras Hindu University, he urged Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya to start a separate section of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He introduced Pharmaceutical Chemistry as a principal subject in the B.Sc. course in 1932, an integrated course in pharma chemistry, pharmacy and pharmacognosy from 1934, and in 1937 the first full three-year B. Pharm course in India.
In 1935 he started the United Provinces Pharmaceutical Association, which became the Indian Pharmaceutical Association in 1939, and he edited the Indian Journal of Pharmacy from its founding in 1939. He began M. Pharm education at BHU in 1940, later led pharmacy education at Birla College, Pilani, and started the periodical “Indian Pharmacist” in 1945.
Source: PharmD Info
