History of the Conference

The Midwest Social and Administrative Pharmacy Conference has a long, rich tradition. In 1985, faculty at Purdue University organized and hosted the first meeting, the Midwest Pharmacy Administration Conference. The conference was held at a time when a history of the discipline of pharmacy administration was being drafted, and emanated from a sense that the pharmacy schools and graduate programs in the Midwest were instrumental in the genesis and early growth of the discipline. Two of the first established graduate programs in the discipline were at Purdue and Wisconsin, where Bob Evanson and Bob Hammel, respectively, trained prolific numbers of graduate students that were instrumental in establishing the discipline at universities and industry throughout the nation. The first conference was, in no small part, a kind of homecoming for many alumni from these initial graduate programs; it made sense to hold it at a place that could rightly commemorate where it all began.

After the first meeting, a planning committee with representatives from the schools and Eli Lilly and Company began preparing for a conference to foster dialogue between pharmacy administration faculty and industry to develop potential research agendas and collaborations. This planning culminated in a conference held at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis in 1987. The conference included workshops and presentations by conference attendees, including graduate students. These two meetings set the stage for ongoing conferences to discuss issues, research, and provide opportunity for student research presentations and dialog. At the core was the notion that research and research advancement would be a focus of the conferences.

After the meeting at Lilly, it was decided to hold the meeting every two years starting in 1988. The conference would rotate among different Schools of Pharmacy to allow students and faculty to visit other campuses and for students at host schools to share the planning responsibilities for the conference. Below is a list of the past conference dates and the host institution. As you attend this year’s conference, ask attendees how many of the past conferences they attended and what they remember about the conferences. Most people will remember meeting new friends, a strange or funny happening, a long van ride, or some other aspect of the conference that was memorable.