URI Opens New $75 Million Home for the College of Pharmacy

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The University of Rhode Island celebrated the opening of its new $75 million building for the College of Pharmacy with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony today, marking the completion of a voter-supported center for pharmaceutical teaching and research.

“When we talk about reinvigorating Rhode Island’s economy and its educational institutions, we can look proudly to the University of Rhode Island,” said Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee. “Rhode Islanders should be proud of their critical role in maintaining URI’s College of Pharmacy as an international leader in teaching, research and innovation. It is no exaggeration to say that the cutting edge pharmaceutical research conducted in this facility will benefit the health of Rhode Islanders and global citizens for decades to come.”

The pharmacy college’s five-story, 144,000 square-foot building is the largest academic building on the Kingston campus. In 2006, voters overwhelmingly approved $65 million in general obligation bonds to finance the new pharmacy building; $10 million in private donations and University funds also supported the project. More than 380 Rhode Islanders were employed on the project, from architectural and engineering to construction jobs.

The new facility has allowed the University to accept more students into its six-year doctor of pharmacy program, its graduate programs and its new four-year bachelor’s program in pharmaceutical sciences. The building accommodates as many as 820 students, a 50 percent increase from 2006 when the bond was approved. The college’s most recent home, the 66,000-square-foot Fogarty Hall, was opened in 1964 and was designed for 235 students.

Learn more about the new Pharmacy Building from URI students and faculty