David Bean used to get away with staying up late to study by stuffing towels underneath his door.
It was the late 1940s. Life in the Navy meant strict rules, but Bean had goals. He wanted to be a pharmacist. Lights out didn’t matter.
He spent all the money he had to buy his first pharmacy in Orlando in 1966, after spending 14 years working in local pharmacies. He had gotten his pharmacy degree from UF in 1952, and he had support from friends, associates and, eventually, his customers.
“I had the best customers in the world,” he said.
More than 40 years later, the 83-year-old Sarasota native stood near a 100,000-square-foot plot of land Tuesday -- a plot he helped purchase -- surveying it with wide eyes.
This is the site of the UF Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona, a $44 million facility that will soon house the Orlando campus of the College of Pharmacy’s entry-level professional degree program, along with other biomedical research projects.
“It’s just fantastic,” he said, smiling widely.
About 200 university, state and local officials gathered Tuesday for the groundbreaking of the site, located less than five miles south of Orlando International Airport.
Bean donated five acres of land to UF in 2000, shortly after his wife died. He received the land from a customer who gave it to him to pay off prescription bills.
The university sold the land for $1.2 million — money Bean said should be used toward establishing an Orlando campus for UF pharmacy students.
The campus will bear the name of Bean and his late wife, Helen.
UF President Bernie Machen said the groundbreaking facility marks the beginning of UF’s first major research initiative away from Gainesville.
“It is part of our vision of the University of Florida as a global beacon, one that is available statewide, nationally and globally,” he said.
Karl Healy, a pharmacy doctoral student, said he’s looking forward to having educational and research activities housed in one building.
“It presents the unique opportunity for students to play an active role in research,” he said.
Among the attendees were Florida Chief Financial Officer and gubernatorial hopeful Alex Sink, Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and Rep. Dean Cannon.
Cannon, a UF alumnus, said the campus will add to the clout the university’s name carries.
“That’s great for anyone with a UF degree,” he said.
As the crowd began to thin, Bean beamed as he looked out again at the land that will host the new facility. He recalled his years as a pharmacist, and he spoke of how students should know they are being trained for success— just like he was.
“The students don’t realize how well they’re getting prepared,” he said. “Words can’t express it.”
