2015

• Charles "Mac" Powell, PhD, becomes fourth president of Bastyr.
• California campus expands into a third building with approximately 5,000 square feet of space including a clinic, library and lab space.
• The University's four founders are honored in a naming ceremony at the Student Village.
• Center for Social Justice and Diversity and the Moonlit Garden are dedicated to outgoing President Daniel K. Church, PhD, for his 10 years of service to Bastyr University.

2014

• Master of Public Health and Master of Arts in Maternal-Child Health programs announced, signalling Bastyr's growth in community-level wellness.
• Center for Social Justice and Diversity created to lead University's work addressing inequality in health care.
• Ayurveda program establishes training site in northern India.

2013

• Master of Science in Ayurvedic Sciences program is established, becoming the first such accredited program in North America.
• Master of Science in Nutrition for Wellness program is announced for California campus.
• School of Traditional World Medicines is created.

2012

• Bastyr University California opens in San Diego, welcoming 49 students to its inaugural Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine class.
• Bastyr University Clinic opens, becoming the teaching clinic for Bastyr University California while also offering comprehensive health care to the San Diego community.
• Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology degree program is established.
• Bastyr University honors the 100th year of the birth of its namesake, Dr. John Bastyr, with a yearlong centennial celebration.

2011

• Bastyr Bikes program and electric car-charging stations are introduced to promote green transportation.
• Center for Health Policy and Leadership is established.

2010

• Bastyr University merges with Seattle Midwifery School and establishes the nation's first regionally accredited, articulated direct-entry Master of Science in Midwifery degree.
• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Integrative Human Biology is established.
• Certificate in Holistic Landscape Design is established.
• Bastyr opens Student Village, with housing for 132 students, which later wins LEED-platinum certification and Outstanding Multifamily Project of the year award from the U.S. Green Building Council.
• Bastyr University and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center receive $3.1 million NIH grant for integrative breast cancer research.
• Bastyr receives $4.52 million NIH grant for the Bastyr/UW Oncomycology Translational Research Center to study the healing effects of Asian medicinal mushrooms on breast and prostate cancer.
• Center for Mind, Body, Spirit and Nature is established.

2009

• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Nutrition and Exercise Science is established.
• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Nutrition and Culinary Arts is established.
• Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS) concludes its 17-year affiliation with Bastyr. 

2008

• Bastyr Center for Natural Health receives LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for sustainable building materials and practices.
• The National Wildlife Federation recognizes the University as an exemplary and committed school in its 2008 National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education.  
• Bastyr University launches a comprehensive, campus-wide composting initiative.
• Establishment of the Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Clinic through a grant from Cleavage Creek Cellars, producers of world-class wines and contributor of 10 percent of gross sales to fight breast cancer.
• Four Elements Garden is established at the eastern edge of the Bastyr Medicinal Herb Garden. The garden is a tribute to the medicine of ancient Greece and represents a classification system for herbs that encompasses the four elements of air, earth, fire and water.

2007

• Bastyr University receives $2 million anonymous donation, the largest in the school's history to date.
• Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) program receives professional accreditation, making Bastyr the first academic institution in the United States with a both regionally and professionally accredited DAOM program.
• Co-founder William A. Mitchell, Jr., ND, passes away at age 59.
• First-ever conference on "The State of Science of Botanical Authentication" is held at Bastyr.
• Transportation initiative begins to reduce the University's environmental footprint.

2006

• Bastyr Center for Natural Health relocates to the Fremont/Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle.
• Bastyr partners with HerbDay Coalition, celebrates first annual national HerbDay.

2005

• Daniel K. Church, PhD, becomes third president of Bastyr.
• Bastyr purchases its 51-acre Kenmore campus from the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.

2004

• Master of Science in Nutrition and Clinical Health Psychology program established.
• Reflexology foot path is built by Bastyr volunteers, becoming the first public path of its kind in the nation.
• Bastyr University Press releases the first Bastyr University cookbook From the Bastyr Kitchen.

2003

• Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine program established.

2002

• University receives its first million-dollar individual gift from Stephen Bing of Los Angeles. The funds are used to build a state-of-the-art whole-food teaching kitchen.
• Naturopathic medicine residency program at Bastyr Center for Natural Health is certified by Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME).
• Bastyr hosts the first annual "CAM Camp," a four-week program providing an introductory natural medicine education to allopathic medical students.
• Bastyr awarded a five-year collaborative grant from NIH/NCCAM to prepare scientists to conduct CAM research.
• With Bastyr's leadership, American Association of Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC) established.

2001

• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Herbal Sciences program is established.
• Bastyr establishes "sister-school" agreement with Shanghai University of Traditional Medicine in China.
• Bastyr begins using “earth tubs” to compost the University’s food waste for use in the medicinal herb garden.

2000

• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Exercise Science and Wellness program is established.
• Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Basic Sciences Research Laboratory opens, becoming the first research laboratory established at a natural health arts and sciences university.
• Bastyr University Natural Health Clinic changes name to Bastyr Center for Natural Health to reflect breadth of services offered.

1999

• Jane Guiltinan, ND ('86), dean of clinical affairs, is appointed to the board of Harborview Medical Center, becoming the first ND to serve on a public hospital board in the U.S.

1998

• Bachelor of Science with a Major in Health Psychology program is established.  

1997

• Bastyr University Cancer Research Center is founded.

1996

• Bastyr is awarded contract to locate and run King County Natural Medicine Clinic, the nation's first government-run natural medicine clinic.
• University relocates to 51-acre campus in Kenmore, Washington.

1995

• University receives Ryan White federal funds, enabling the teaching clinic to provide free natural health care to low-income patients living with HIV/AIDS.
• Death of John Bartholomew Bastyr, DC, ND, renowned Seattle physician after whom Bastyr University is named.

1994

• School name is changed to Bastyr University to acknowledge expansion into multidisciplinary institution. The teaching clinic is renamed Bastyr University Natural Health Clinic.
• Accreditation status is granted to AOM program by National Commission for Schools and Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
• Bastyr is awarded a grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine, becoming the first natural medicine institution to receive an NIH grant.
• "Sister-school" agreement is established with Chengdu University of Traditional Medicine in China.
• Certificate in Chinese Herbal Medicine program is established.

1993

• University’s Didactic Program in Dietetics is approved by the American Dietetics Association.
• Washington State Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn invites Bastyr University to help create models for better inclusion of complementary medicine in the state health care plan.

1990

• University’s teaching clinic relocates to Seattle’s Wallingford district.

1989

• Master of Science in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MSAOM) is established.
• Bastyr College is granted accreditation by Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC) (retroactive to September 1988).

1987

• Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine program is accredited by Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME).

1986

• Bastyr University Research Center is founded.

1984

• Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nutrition programs are established.
• School name is changed to Bastyr College. Teaching clinic is renamed Bastyr College of Natural Medicine Clinic.

1983

• Bastyr is recognized as candidate for accreditation by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC), becoming the first college of naturopathic medicine to achieve such approval.

1982

• Graduation for Bastyr’s first Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine class (the first graduates from a four-year U.S. naturopathic college in more than 20 years) is held at St. Thomas Center in Kenmore, Washington.
• Certificate in Naturopathic Midwifery is established.

1980

• John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine Clinic (the college’s teaching clinic) opens.
• Bastyr University Library and Medicinal Herb Garden are established.

1978

• John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine is founded by Les Griffith, ND; William A. Mitchell, Jr., ND; Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., ND; and Sheila Quinn.

Bastyr University was founded in 1978 during a difficult political climate for natural medicine. National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) had closed its Seattle branch, and Washington state legislators were threatening to eliminate naturopathic licensing since no new graduates were applying for licensure.

Bastyr University has played a bigger role within medicine than any other non-allopathic institution, bringing scientific legitimacy to natural medicine.

- James Wharton, PhD, professor of medical history and ethics, University of Washington School of Medicine

This challenge was met by three NCNM graduates, Drs. Les Griffith, William A. Mitchell, Jr. and Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr. These naturopathic physicians saw an opportunity to create a new naturopathic school in Seattle that would not only protect licensure in Washington, but also create a resurgence for the naturopathic field by building the school on a science-based foundation.

"We decided to make it absolutely the best institution of learning we possibly could even imagine: the Harvard of naturopathic medicine, if you will," said Dr. Mitchell. "It was built on the best visions of what a really high-quality naturopathic institution could be."

Humble Beginnings

The three men met around a kitchen table to create the school of their dreams with a startup sum of $200, a gift from a grateful patient. "We dreamed of what the perfect naturopathic institution would look like — what it would need, what its focus would be," said Dr. Griffith. "We had already decided on the basic foundation — science-based and accredited."

When it came to naming the school, there was no argument: They unanimously agreed to name it John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine, after their beloved instructor Dr. John Bastyr. Dr. Bastyr was an early champion of science-based natural medicine and a renowned Seattle-area naturopathic physician and midwife.

Their next decision — one of their smartest, they said — was hiring Sheila Quinn, a medical administrator at the University of Washington. Quinn served as the school's administrator for more than 10 years. As the fourth and final co-founder, she contributed to an endeavor that succeeded beyond their wildest hopes. "The belief was so strong it overcame all the obstacles," said Dr. Griffith.

Achieving Accreditation

"In many ways I consider this University to be blessed," said Dr. Pizzorno, who served as president for the first 22 years. Helping hands appeared to assist the founders in securing classroom space, accreditation, allies and advocates. By 1989, the co-founders had achieved their initial goals: accreditation (becoming the first naturopathic school to be accredited); international recognition as the leading institution of science-based natural medicine; publication of the widely acclaimed Textbook of Natural Medicine; the development of a core of highly skilled faculty; and strong community respect for the medicine.

Dr. Pizzorno summarized Bastyr's achievements: "We have demonstrated that science-based natural medicine is achievable and successful in helping people. By doing it right, Bastyr has been a catalyst for the resurgence of public interest in natural medicine. So many of our graduates are actively treating people, writing good books and lecturing. We have made the world realize that natural medicine offers great value."