HONOLULU -- The University of Hawaii at Hilo's College of Pharmacy received a $1 million gift to help build facilities, officials announced on Monday.

The funds from the J.M. Long Foundation will help build the health sciences complex, school officials said. The UH Board of Regents agreed to name Building B the Joseph M. Long Pavilion.

"This gift embodies the mutual investment that the J.M. Long Foundation and the College of Pharmacy have made in the State of Hawaii," Pharmacy Dean John M. Pezzuto said. "Let me say from the bottom of my heart, thank you to the J.M. Long Foundation for helping us fulfill our pledge to offer our students quality education while addressing the critical shortage of qualified pharmacists in Hawai'i and across the nation."

The money comes at a time when UH and the state faces budget cuts.

The College of Pharmacy expects to relocate to the new complex in fall 2009, officials said. The first students to the college began in 2007.

Joseph M. Long is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Longs Drug Stores. He started the foundation in 1966.