Taking the Lead in Healthcare
For over 100 years, Idaho State University has been home to major health education programs in the state.
Through decades of strategic growth and innovation, Idaho State University has become Idaho’s premier health sciences university. While the nation enjoyed the booming economy of the Roaring Twenties, ISU took advantage of the time to spearhead Idaho’s first, and to this day only, pharmacy program.
What started as five students walking onto the Pocatello campus in 1920 for a non-four-year pharmacy program is now a robust pharmacy program spanning two campuses in Idaho and one in Alaska. Pharmacy, however, was just the first of the more than 60 health sciences programs now offered through ISU’s Kasiska Division of Health Sciences (KDHS). Today, KDHS trains health professionals across multiple disciplines to enter Idaho’s most in-demand healthcare fields.
Following its core values of professional integrity, holistic health, collaboration, discovery and innovation, dedication, and excellence, KDHS continues its mission of developing healthcare professionals who can both treat people with kindness and treat their injuries. Through this philosophy, KDHS maintains strong support from its students, alumni, and partners.
The Kasiska Family Foundation has provided philanthropic support for ISU’s health sciences programs for decades. Through donations totalling over $20 million, ISU has provided hundreds of scholarships for health sciences students and built or updated health sciences facilities. The ALSAM Foundation has also contributed heavily to KDHS, providing financial support for ISU to expand to Meridian in 2009 and the Leonard Hall renovation completed in 2025.
KDHS strategically realigned its programs and established two new colleges this year to serve its students and mission. The first new college, the College of Pharmacy and Health Professions, consolidates most of the KDHS undergraduate degrees needed to pursue health professions into one place. The College of Nursing, Rehabilitation, and Human Health is the second new KDHS college, providing the specialized degrees needed to meet Idaho’s healthcare workforce needs.
ISU’s KDHS plans to continue growing its already strong health sciences presence with the build-out of the Treasure Valley Anatomy and Physiology Laboratories and a 23-acre expansion at the Meridian campus. KDHS leaders are excited to continue its mission of education and training comprehensive healthcare providers to serve rural Idahoans through critically needed health sciences programs.
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Looking Back | 1918-1948
The Pharmacy Program is Born
Eugene O. Leonard developed the pharmacy program in 1918. The program launched with five students in 1920. In 1942, Leonard Hall was constructed and named in his honor. Leonard served as dean of the College of Pharmacy (est. 1947) until 1948.