In 1885, the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy opened in the basement of the Medical Building, the fourth state university-run pharmacy program in the nation. In 1917, with the start of WWI, the College secretly produced bootleg aspirin after the war in Europe threatened the supply from German patent-holder Friedrich Bayer and Company.

The U. S. entry into the War spared College officials any legal repercussions from the bootleg aspirin project. In 1939, University researcher W.D. “Shorty” Paul developed the concept for buffered aspirin.