The school was founded in 1896 as the College of Physicians and Surgeons with programs in dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy; Stanford School of Medicine and UoP dental were once the same institution before they split into two in 1918. In 1918, the college focused its education program solely on dentistry but retained its name as the College of Physicians and Surgeons until it was incorporated into the University of the Pacific in 1962. In 2004 the school was named in honor of Arthur A. Dugoni, a former president of the American Dental Association, who served 28 years as dean.