Series - Pharmacy history : assorted historical materials, articles and research notes

George A. Burbidge was the first Dean of the Maritime College of Pharmacy and is more widely referred to as the "Founder of Canadian Pharmacy." Born in Newfoundland in 1871, at a young age he moved with his family to Halifax, where he was educated. He planned to study medicine, but when his father died he became a pharmacy apprentice. He was registered with the Nova Scotia Pharmaceutical Society in 1899 and operated two drug stores in Halifax until 1921, when he turned his energies to the Maritime College of Pharmacy, becoming its first dean in 1925.

Burbidge was associated with numerous pharmaceutical associations and was instrumental in the founding of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association in 1907. The Association's goals were to guard against the Dominion's negative impact on the role of pharmacy in Canada; to promote uniform standards; and to hold annual conventions for pharmacists to exchange knowledge. Burbidge was the only full-time faculty member of the College of Pharmacy from 1921 until his death in 1943. During his tenure the one-year diploma program was expanded to a four-year BSc in Pharmacy.