After gaining statehood in 1812, the Louisiana legislature enacted a law on March 16, 1816. This was described as . . . "an act prescribing the formalities to be observed in order to obtain the right of practicing PHYSIC or the profession of the APOTHECARY within the STATE OF LOUISIANA." The act also established the first STATE BOARD OF PHARMACY and was the first such Board to have a pharmacist as a permanent member of the Board. Louis J. Dufilho was the first individual licensed by that body. He operated a pharmacy located at 514 Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. This pharmacy still exists as a museum and is annually visited by over 30,000 people. As French was the predominant language in that location at that time, we have chosen to utilize a French theme for our Society. We are proud of the rich and exciting history of our State, and we hope you will join us in sharing that pride through this Society.

Louis J. Dufilho Photo used with permission of the New Orleans Pharmacy

Intended Use of Funds

As Higher Education continues to be more and more "State-assisted" than "State-supported", private funds are needed in order to maintain the quality of education we have enjoyed in the past. Funds generated by the society will be utilized to maintain and improve areas of special need such as supplementation of the holdings of the student-used Drug Information Center (journals and information software), implementation of pharmaceutical care and patient counseling activities, software for computer-assisted teaching, and student development activities. These ares are especially important in maintaining the high quality of teaching, research, and service we have produced in the past. While we have numerous immediate needs, we do recognize the importance of planning for the future with the belief that the trend toward additional needs for private support will continue. Therefore, depending on the needs in any particular year, we will be placing between 25% and 50% of funds derived through this program into an endowment which will generate interest that can be used for the same purpose as those funds not placed in the endowment - - that is, for priority needs of the College.