Dr. Bernard A. Schwetz, FDA acting deputy commissioner, presented the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation to Dr. Lyle P. Vogel.

Dr. Lyle P. Vogel, director of the Scientific Activities Division at the AVMA, received the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation in June. This is the commissioner's highest honor for a nongovernmental employee. Dr. Vogel was the only veterinarian to receive the citation this year, and it is a rare distinction. The last time the citation was conferred on a veterinarian was when Dr. Jack Morse received it in 1988.

At the recent Steering Committee on Judicious Therapeutic Antimicrobial Use meeting, Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA-CVM, had informed Dr. Vogel that he would be receiving the citation, which applauds Dr. Vogel's "skill and tenacity in gathering intellectual and financial support, and recognition for the AVMA Judicious Therapeutic Antimicrobial Use by Veterinarians Program."

He was presented the award by Dr. Bernard A. Schwetz, FDA acting deputy commissioner and fellow 1967 graduate of Dr. Vogel's alma mater, the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

After serving for 26 years in the US Army Veterinary Corps as a food safety and public health specialist, Dr. Vogel joined the staff of the AVMA in 1993 as the assistant director of the Membership and Field Services Division. In 1996, he was appointed to the position of director of the Scientific Activities Division, where he's managed issues concerning public health, food safety, animal disease control, animal drug availability and usage, biologics, and preparedness and response to disasters and emergencies that affect animals.