F. Norman Hughes (1908-2002)

Some Highlights of a Remarkable Man's Life and Career (written by Dr. Ernst W. Stieb)

F. Norman Hughes passed away peacefully February 4th, 2002, having celebrated his 94th birthday just a few days earlier, January 23rd. He leaves his wife, Lorna Felice Roberts, 7 children, 14 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren, all of whom are justifiably proud of all his achievements over his lifetime or will be when they are old enough to realize the significance of them.

The University of Toronto is equally mindful of Norman Hughes's great achievements and contributions both within the University and outside. To acknowledge that publicly during the week of the passing of Dean and Professor Emeritus Hughes, the University flew its flag at half mast above Simcoe Hall - its central administrative building -- in recognition of the death of someone of obvious importance and close to the University of Toronto.

If desired, memorial donations may be made to the Dean Hughes Memorial Fund, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2S2; or to Trinity Anglican Church, 79 Victoria Street, Aurora, ON L4G 1R5.

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Born in Dresden, Ontario, Norman Hughes completed his primary and secondary education, as well as his then three-year apprenticeship with Ingersoll Brothers in Sarnia, Ontario, before earning his Bachelor of Pharmacy (Phm.B.) degree from the University of Toronto (U of T) in 1929 at the top of his class. (Another prominent Canadian and close life-long friend, Fred Tilston, stood second.) The members of the class of '29 constituted a milestone since they were the first for whom a U of T degree was required, rather than voluntary beyond the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) diploma.

After having served as an examiner for OCP from soon after his graduation, in 1938 Norman Hughes joined the teaching faculty of the OCP. The College operated its own school from 1882 to 1953, but was affiliated with the U of T from 1892 onward. That arrangement varied considerably throughout the period but permitted pharmacy students to earn university degrees and to take university courses. Having previously acted as assistant dean (1948-1950), Norman Hughes became dean of the OCP School in 1952, in time to present the first graduates of the new four-year baccalaureate program for the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (B.Sc.Phm.) degree at the University of Toronto convocation that year. When OCP turned its teaching function over completely to the University of Toronto in 1953, it named Hughes the new Faculty of Pharmacy's first dean, and he served with eminence in that post until he "retired" in 1973 as Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus. He thus holds the distinction of having been the last dean of the OCP School and the first for the U of T Faculty.

Norman Hughes played a notable role during his career with both the OCP School and the University Faculty. Apart from taking a key part in moving OCP to establish the B.Sc.Phm. program at Toronto, he also influenced the College to approach the University for it to assume responsibility for the teaching function, thereby creating the Faculty of Pharmacy in 1953. Both steps forward were crucial to gain University approval to establish the Faculty's first M.Sc. degree program in pharmacy that same year and in 1961, the first Ph.D. program. Hughes also worked to establish the hospital pharmacy residency program, initiated in 1960 in Ontario, and the clinical teaching program in 1968. The changes in curriculum reflected by the introduction and expansion of clinical pharmacy saw a move increasingly from physical to biological or medical sciences, which also responded to the portended change in pharmacy practice from product to patient orientation. Course material relating to non-prescription medication or those for self-medication also entered the curriculum. A few years before completing his term, Norman Hughes encouraged studying the possibility of establishing a professional doctor of pharmacy degree program, then gaining sure momentum in the USA; and the Faculty began to explore with the College the possibility for practical training (apprenticeship, internship) to come under the aegis of the Faculty rather than OCP.

Somehow during this period of great activity and equally great advances for the College, then Faculty, Norman Hughes also found the time to earn a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree at Purdue University (1940), which confirmed his conviction to raise the level of the undergraduate degree in pharmacy at the College and Faculty. Subsequently he also earned a Master's degree in physiology from the University of Toronto (1944). This was all during the period of World War II when the few staff members that remained behind faced incredible course loads and administrative duties by today's standards.

Norman Hughes's major part in the operation and very fabric of the Faculty became even more apparent November 16th, 1975, when the University of Toronto named the Faculty's new home on campus since 1963 the "F. Norman Hughes Pharmacy Building" to honor the man who served with such distinction as its dean from 1953 to 1973. Furthermore, on the very day that the building was thus christened, the Ontario College of Pharmacists inaugurated the "F. Norman Hughes Distinguished Lecture" series in his honor. Ironically, Hans Selye, the distinguished inaugural lecturer would discuss his particular area of expertise, "Learning How to Cope with Stress," which must have struck the honoree as particularly apt for how he had managed to weather his career to that point.

Convocation had special significance in June 1980, not only for the Faculty, but also for the graduates, staff, and alumni, because it marked the first time on such an occasion than an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree, was conferred by the University of Toronto upon an alumnus of the Faculty or OCP. The U of T's citation for Norman Hughes recognized particularly the major roles he played in the initiation of the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in pharmacy at Toronto, the establishment of the hospital pharmacy residency program in Ontario, and his significant part in making pharmacy a viable entity at the University. He had previously been recognized by the U of T with a Sesquicentennial Long-Service Honor Award in 1977 for his years of loyalty to the University. He had also served with distinction as a member of the University's senate and as a member or chair of a number of its committees. His diplomacy and statesmanship served him and the University very well indeed when in March 1972 as a senior administrator he presided over what is remembered as the stormiest-ever session of the senate, at least until then, when that body dealt with the controversial issue at the time of student access to the stacks in the new Robarts Library. At the time of his retirement, Norman Hughes was also the senior ranking dean and chairman of the Health Sciences Committee. Some years later, in 1989, he would earn the U of T Arbor Award in recognition of him as an outstanding alumnus volunteer "who had demonstrated a lifetime of commitment to the University."

Norman Hughes had been honored twice previously to his U of T honorary LL.D. with the same degree by Purdue University (1954) and Dalhousie University (1973), and would be once subsequently with an honorary Doctor or Science (D.Sc.) from Memorial University of Newfoundland. In the case of Purdue, it was to recognize the exceptional achievement of one of their alumni; for Dalhousie and Memorial it was certainly also to acknowledge his contributions to pharmacy academia in Canada, but more particularly the role he had personally played earlier in making a case for the existence of their respective pharmacy institutions--College (Dalhousie) and School (Memorial).

Norman Hughes also played a considerable part in pharmaceutical activities beyond the walls of the College and University. Clearly one of his greatest and lasting contributions to pharmacy, among the many mentioned here, was his role in shaping the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS), which continues today as a primary source of information for health professionals and others, published by the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association (CPhA). It began among a number of other features he provided to the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal (CPhJ) over the years, starting already while a student. For the CPhJ he edited a "New Pharmaceuticals Section" (1945-1971), which evolved into his New Products Index, volumes 1-13 (1950-1957), then the Compendium, which he served from the lst edition (1960) as editor, then co-editor, and finally as consulting editor and chairman of its editorial advisory board until its 10th edition (1975). All together a remarkable ongoing legacy for pharmacy, other health professions, and the public they serve.

All told, Norman Hughes authored approximately 100 professional and scientific papers and over the years provided material, in addition to professional pharmacy journals, to the Canadian Nurse, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Ontario Medical Review, and Applied Therapeutics. As the last surviving founding member of the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (AFPC)--until 1969 known as the Canadian Conference of Pharmaceutical Faculties (CCPF)--Norman Hughes's most recent publication allowed him to re-live an important part of his professional life. He was invited to author the foreword and the first chapter of A History of the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada: The First Fifty Years, 1944-1994, published by AFPC in May 2001. In addition to being a founding member in 1944, he had also served as the first secretary-treasurer of CCPF (1944-1951), then as vice-chairman and chairman (1951-53)--later called "vice president" and "president". He also chaired a special CCPF committee (1965-1966) to study pharmaceutical education in Newfoundland and in 1958 chaired a CCPF group to advise the Dalhousie University president concerning pharmaceutical education at Dalhousie that led in 1961 to the creation of the present College of Pharmacy there; then in 1972, Hughes acted as an external advisor to a committee to assess the Dalhousie College. Subsequently, when the CCPF evolved into the present AFPC, he was asked to serve as the first chairman (1969-70) of the new organization during that crucial transitional period.

Among the many other professional organizations and activities with which Norman Hughes was associated, he participated in the founding of the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) and served as its first president (1964-1966), then after his retirement from the University of Toronto, as PEBC's registrar-treasurer (1973-1980). He also served as the president of the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy (1956-1957) and as the president of the Canadian Association of Deans of Pharmacy (1966-1969).

Over a long term (1954-1973) in his capacity as dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, he was a member of the Council of the Ontario College of Pharmacy and served as chairman or member of a number of its standing or special committees.

Perhaps the widest ranging consequences for pharmacy in Canada flowed from the recommendations by Norman Hughes that the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association should open its council and executive to pharmacists representing areas of practice other than community or retail, which was the norm for about half a century prior to 1955. Hughes himself was the very first such representative (1955-57), in his case from academic pharmacy, i.e. CCPF/AFPC. The Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists was another early benefactor of the so-called "Hughes Report" that emanated originally from CCPF, while other groups followed in subsequent years.

Moving to the arena beyond the pharmacy organizations mentioned above were the briefs prepared in 1961 by CCPF for submission to the Royal (or Hall) Commission on Health Services, charged with studying and recommending a national system of health care for Canada. An interesting departure was the request by the Commission in 1962 for the University of Toronto Faculty to make a supplementary submission, which it did with obvious major input from Norman Hughes. The end result of the recommendations flowing from the Hall Commission was of course our present Medicare system.

Aside from the recognition and high regard for Norman Hughes that came from all of the preceding, that was capped by the honorary life memberships that were conferred upon him by the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, the Ontario Pharmacists Association, and his own Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada and Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada. The Canada Centennial Medal in 1967 provided a different level of recognition.

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Aside for the devotion to pharmacy and related matters by Norman Hughes, three great passions of his life beyond his professional interests were his devotion to his family and church, fishing, gardening and philately.

8 February 2002

See the new Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building