The University of Iowa will host a ceremony Friday, Oct. 15, to dedicate the College of Pharmacy’s new building.
The College of Pharmacy Building opened to students at the start of the spring 2020 semester. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the dedication ceremony was delayed until an in-person event was allowed.
Among the new building’s many features are:
- Twenty-three learning spaces, including classrooms, lecture halls, and conference and seminar rooms—10 more than in the former building;
- Sixteen laboratory-science research spaces, five more than in the former building;
- The Pharmacy Practice Learning Center, which includes a mock hospital pharmacy and a mock community pharmacy;
- A 128-seat, team-based learning lecture hall with three 220-inch projection screens and space to allow students to collaborate in teams; and
- Academic community rooms (known as PODS) for student studying and gathering.
The lower level of the building will be home to UI Pharmaceuticals’ sterile products division; it will encompass two production lines for the manufacture of injectables, support controlled temperature warehousing, and provide office space for 20 employees. This expansion of UI Pharmaceuticals’ (UIP) production facilities will increase sterile product capacity fivefold and enable UIP to attract and retain new customers through the phases of drug development.
The building also incorporates a variety of strategies to promote universal design, a concept that recognizes and attempts to accommodate the broadest possible spectrum of human ability. Some of those elements include built-in hearing loops in some of the spaces that will broadcast directly to a person’s hearing device, height-adjustable work surfaces, wide pathways and doorways, and contrasting color schemes.
WHEN: The dedication will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, and will include remarks from:
- Barbara Wilson, UI president
- Donald Letendre, dean of the College of Pharmacy
- Sheila Baldwin, vice president, UI Center for Advancement
- Milagro Michels-Cordao, Doctor of Pharmacy student
WHERE: 180 S. Grand Ave., Iowa City
BACKGROUND: The 296,000-square-foot facility opened in January 2020. It almost doubled the size of the old 150,000 square-foot building. As part of the project—funded by state appropriations combined with UI and College of Pharmacy contributions and investments—portions of the existing 1996 south tower will be renovated and utilized for research and office space.
The building provides optimal spaces to advance pharmaceutical sciences and educate future pharmacists, and will ultimately impact health care across Iowa and around the world.
The north wing of the former building has been named the Health Sciences Wing and will receive minor renovations to create office space for College of Medicine, College of Nursing, and College of Public Health occupants currently housed in Westlawn. The Office of the Registrar also will utilize existing classrooms as centrally scheduled university classrooms.
The sixth floor of the building will remain unfinished for the time being, set aside for future growth.
FOR MEDIA: Media wishing to attend the dedication ceremony should contact Anne Bassett, director of media relations, in advance at media-request@uiowa.edu.