Dr. Douglas G. Aspros of White Plains, N.Y, has practiced small animal medicine in Westchester, N.Y., since his 1975 graduation from Cornell University.

Committed to veterinary education, he chaired the AVMA Council on Education this past year and represented the COE on the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from 2001-2006. He has served on Cornell's College Advisory Board and the Cornell Council. In April, he chaired an education-focused meeting of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe.

According to Dr. Aspros, his proudest accomplishment was initiating the New York State Veterinary Medical Society's Leaders 2000, a program to engage and mentor young professionals to take on leadership roles in organized veterinary medicine.

In the NYSVMS, Dr. Aspros has served as president, treasurer, two-term board member, and committee chair. The society honored him as 2000 Veterinarian of the Year. He was previously honored as Northeast Region Practitioner of the Year in 1999 by the American Animal Hospital Association.

Dr. Aspros was the first veterinarian in New York appointed president of a county board of health, and he received the National Association of Local Boards of Health Award in 2004.

Dr. Aspros lives in Pound Ridge, NY with his wife Dee, their Norfolk terriers, a tortoiseshell cat and an African Grey parrot named Gracie.