Edward Kremers Award

Edward Kremers in 1933

Originally established in 1961, the Edward Kremers Award honors Professor Edward Kremers (1865-1941), a pioneer of pharmacy education in the United States, distinguished historian of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals, and one of the founders of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy.

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy awards the Edward Kremers Award to recognize the author(s) of a specific book, or a series of related articles, in the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals that exhibits high standards of scholarship, superior quality, and distinguished merit. The Edward Kremers Award is awarded without regard to citizenship or nationality.

A competition for the Edward Kremers Award is held biennially, in even-numbered years. The Institute issues a public call for nominations and provides notice of the competition to organizations and groups with an active interest in scholarship in the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.

AIHP is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Edward Kremers Award. The deadline for receipt of nominations is May 15, 2024. The 2024 competition is limited to books, or a series of related articles, published within the past five years.

Nominations should be in the form of a letter that includes the following information:

  • The nominator’s name, email address, and telephone number;
  • The name of the book/publication(s) being nominated;
  • The author(s) of the nominated publication(s);
  • Best available contact information for the author(s), including email address, mailing address, and telephone number if possible;
  • The name of the publisher of the nominated publication(s) and year of publication; and
  • A concise one-page statement that explains the significance of the publication(s) to scholarship in the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceutical, and why the nominator believes the publication is deserving of the Edward Kremers Award.

The letter of nomination should be emailed to aihp@aihp.org no later than May 15, 2024. In addition, the nominator should arrange for three copies of the publication(s) to be sent to AIHP at 777 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI  53705.

A panel of historians, including the Institute’s Historical Director. evaluates nominations on the basis of (i) the significance of the book or series of articles to scholarship in the field of the history of pharmacy, and pharmaceuticals, and (ii) the quality of the research, interpretation and presentation of the subject matter of the book or series of articles.

The Edward Kremers Award typically is presented at the International Congress for the History of Pharmacy or similar event.

History of Edward Kremers Award: Prior to 2020, the Edward Kremers Award was conferred upon a citizen of the United States for an original and scholarly publication, or a single series of interrelated publications, appearing anywhere in the world and pertaining primarily to historical or historico-social aspects of pharmacy (including the history of the materia medica). Evaluation was based on the competence of the research and on the skill of interpretation and presentation. The AIHP Board of Directors adopted the current protocol for the Kremers Award in August 2020.

Previous Winners of the Kremers Award

Brief Biography of Edward Kremers

The second Director of the University of Wisconsin Department of Pharmacy and the first Dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy, Edward Kremers was instrumental in the development of modern university-based pharmacy education.

Kremers also firmly believed that humanistic and historical research and knowledge benefited professional and scientific disciplines.  As early as 1892, he argued that  “In our utilitarian and materialistic age, too little attention is given to history even in the academic courses of our colleges and universities. The professional student should at least have a fair knowledge of the history of his profession.” Twenty years later, in the introduction to his Bibliographic Guide for Students of the History of Pharmacy, Kremers explained that “appreciating the broadening effort which even a cursory study of the history of pharmacy by the pharmacy student must have on his necessarily technical course of education, the writer has always sought to interest his students in the evolution of their calling.”

The Edward Kremers Award honors Prof. Kremers pioneering research in the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals and recognizes scholars who continue to bridge the divisions between the humanities and the health sciences.

Actively engaged in preserving the documents of pharmacy's past and developing materials for understanding the future.
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AIHP Wants to Document Your COVID-19 Stories and Experiences

AIHP COVID-19 ProjectThe American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.


You can participate in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project either (1) by immediately sharing your thoughts/experiences and/or submitting digital materials or (2) by signifying your to intention to submit materials in the future. Please comply with all applicable local or state stay-at-home orders while self-documenting.


Please click the link below to learn more about participating in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project.

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Calendar of Events


Upcoming events of interest to historians of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, medicines, science, and related fields. (Event information current when posted. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, please double-check the status of all events):


May 9-12, 2024: Annual Meeting of the American Association of the History of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri.
June 27-30, 2024: ADHS Biennial Conference, Buffalo, NY.
July 7-11, 2024: International Social Pharmacy Workshop, Banff, Canada.
September 4-7, 2024: 46th International Congress for the History of Pharmacy, Belgrade Serbia.
January 3-6, 2025: Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, New York City, NY.


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