125 stories for 125 years

John Coppock

John studied pharmacy at the Swanston Street campus and graduated in 1955. While at the college he was a member of the committee of the students’ organisation and for a time the editor of the magazine.

In 1962 he purchased a pharmacy in Richmond. Following a fire at this pharmacy, he purchased another pharmacy in Richmond and a second pharmacy in Malvern. The Richmond pharmacy was sold in 1980 and the Malvern pharmacy in 1998.

He became a director of Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) in 1969 and Chairman in 1972. In 1976 he became a director of Guild Insurance and Financial Services (GIFS). John was elected a member of the Pharmacy Board of Victoria in 1978 and was Treasurer from 1982 to 1984. He then became a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Companies Directors in 1991, a Fellow of Pharmaceutical Society of Australia in 1995 and a Fellow of Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management in 2003.

John was appointed to the Council of the Pharmaceutical Association of Australia and New Zealand (PAANZ) in 1974; became Treasurer in 1976 and Vice President in 1978. In 1986 he was a Director of the Pharmacy Research Centre and a Director of the Australian Pharmaceutical Publishing Co Ltd (APPCo). John became Chairman of APPCo in 2001.

John is still involved with many of the organisations mentioned above and is working in a pharmacy two days a week. He was ‘thrilled to speak at the Victorian College of Pharmacy’s 125th anniversary plaque unveiling earlier this year.’