Cossar Club launched in style - Wednesday 31 October

Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC delivering his talk on the early Victorian pharmacists

Graduates, past and present staff and foundation board members lent their support to the launch of a new bequest program at the Victorian College of Pharmacy.

Keynote speaker Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC spoke about the rich history of pharmacy in Victoria; how the profession was established and the college developed through the initiative and drive of the early Victorian pharmacists and their continued efforts to improve education.

Mr Alistair Lloyd, chair of the Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation, said current and former pharmacists could now continue to support the future of the college by joining the Cossar Club bequest program.

The Cossar Club will acknowledge those who are prepared to support the college with a bequest. In recognition of the leadership of the Cossar family with previous and current appeals, the club is named after them.

Brian Cossar and his predecessors have been generous benefactors to the college for almost 100 years. During the college’s relocation from Swanston Street to its current location in Parkville in 1960, The Cossar family donated £25,000 to the industry-wide appeal.

A pharmacy journal noted his donation was ‘possibly the largest single gift made to a pharmaceutical teaching institution in Australia at any time’, and was in fact double the amount of the next largest donation to the appeal.

College Dean Professor Bill Charman described the exiting vision for the faculty into the future. “The creation of the Cossar Club is a key event in moving forward,” he said. “Through these kinds of initiatives, we will be able to position the college as the leading pharmacy and pharmaceutical science institution in Australia and make a significant contribution to international healthcare.”

For a confidential discussion about making a bequest to the Victorian College of Pharmacy, please contact the Foundation Office on 9903 9507 or email foundation@vcp.monash.edu.au

View pictures from the launch