College of Pharmacy celebrates naming of Araneo Building

The Medical University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy has named its historic building at 280 Calhoun Street in memory of Michael P. Araneo, an entrepreneur and pharmacist who transformed the practice of pharmacy in Charleston and provided many years of leadership to the College of Pharmacy.

In a ceremony held in Hollings Cancer Center Auditorium on August 23, President David Cole and College of Pharmacy Dean Philip Hall led a number of MUSC representatives in remembering Michael Araneo, while Araneo’s daughter Alycia Craft and longtime family attorney Edward Bennett spoke on behalf of the Araneo family. Araneo donated a total of $4.5 million to MUSC prior to his death in 2000.

“This is much more than a building. It’s a place where ideas are born, and careers are launched, where people are encouraged to pursue their dreams,” said MUSC President David Cole. “It is truly an honor and a privilege to recognize Mr. Araneo’s legacy as a philanthropist and change agent by bringing his name on campus and naming the Michael P. Araneo Building in recognition of all he achieved and represented.”

Araneo was a pioneer in discount pharmacy. A New Jersey native, he graduated from the Rutgers University Pharmacy School in 1929 and managed three discount drug stores in Jersey City. He moved to Charleston in 1934 and, by all accounts, changed the face of Lowcountry pharmacy.

Discount pharmacy was a new concept for the area and he opened a series of highly-successful stores. For nearly two decades his store was the leading pharmacy in the city and when he sold his last store in 1950, it was the largest discount store in the Southeast.

He was also a well-known and well-respected leader in the Charleston community.

“Everyone knew him,” Alycia Craft said. “He was so smart about everything and so knowledgeable about medications. He used to take care of everybody, even after he retired he was still taking care of everybody.”

Araneo had an old Woodie Wagon delivery truck and he would deliver prescriptions to people’s houses if they needed, even if they couldn’t pay from time to time.

An avid golfer, Araneo put on the Azalea Tournament at the Country Club of Charleston and used to play regularly with club pro Henry Picard, a two-time PGA major champion (Masters in 1938 and the PGA Championship in 1939).

In 1999 Araneo made what was, at the time, the largest gift ever to the Medical University: a $4.5 million commitment to support MUSC’s Pharmaceutical Development Center, a cutting-edge facility whose dual mission incorporated educational and industrial opportunities.

A widower of Helene Fitzpatrick Araneo, Michael Araneo passed away in 2000 and was survived by two daughters, Helene Ackerman and Alycia A. Craft; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

“The College of Pharmacy has been in this building for nearly 80 years,” said Philip D. Hall, dean of the MUSC College of Pharmacy. “A tremendous amount of our institutional memory has been made here. Naming the building in honor of Mr. Araneo pays tribute to the integral part he played in enabling many of those memories to be made. In his vision, generosity and spirit, he has been one of the most significant contributors to the overall growth and advancement of the College.”