"The commencement of the CSU pharmacy degree course was a watershed in pharmacy education, not just in this State, but in the whole of Australia," Mr Dean said.

Mr Dean delivered the occasional address at the Faculty of Health Studies graduation ceremony at the Wagga Wagga Campus on 6 April where he acknowledged the first graduates of the first new pharmacy school in NSW for more than 100 years.

The ceremony also saw the graduation of CSU’s first graduates in the new undergraduate specialities of mental health and nuclear medicine and postgraduate studies in midwifery.

Mr Dean said the introduction of the pharmacy degree in 1997 was the catalyst for a positive reaction from academic and professional pharmacy throughout the country.

"Charles Sturt University has had a significant beneficial impact on the teaching of pharmacy and everyone has benefited – students, academia, the pharmacy profession and, most importantly, the public," he said.

Since hearing about CSU’s plans for a pharmacy degree in 1995, Mr Dean said he had come to know from close hand the "high standard of Charles Sturt teaching and methods and the special qualities it brings to the provision of educational excellence."

He congratulated the Dean of the Faculty of Health Studies, Professor David Battersby, and Head of the School of Biomedical Sciences, Professor Mark Burton, on their achievements.

Mr Dean added that the graduates in mental health, nuclear medicine and midwifery were also breaking new ground and were to be congratulated as pioneers in their disciplines.