By Katie Burns
Posted March 30, 2016
What kept Dr. Elizabeth A. Curry-Galvin on the staff of the AVMA for two decades? She said, “The mission and the people. It’s very gratifying to work for an association that is the leading advocate for the entire veterinary profession.”
Adrian Hochstadt was on the staff for a decade and is returning after a brief hiatus. He said, “I see tremendous untapped potential for this profession, and I am confident that together, AVMA and its partners will lead the way to an exciting and prosperous future.”
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Dr. Elizabeth A. Curry-Galvin (Photos by R. Scott Nolen) |
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Adrian Hochstadt |
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Dr. Curry-Galvin became assistant executive vice president of the AVMA in 2009, later adding the title of deputy chief executive officer; she is retiring this April. Hochstadt is taking the reins as the new deputy CEO. Dr. David Granstrom is transitioning from associate executive vice president to assistant executive vice president.
After graduating as valedictorian from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988, Dr. Curry-Galvin completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Minnesota. She went on to work in companion animal practice and as a technical services veterinarian for Sandoz Animal Health. She joined the AVMA in 1996 as an assistant director in the Scientific Activities Division, now the Division of Animal and Public Health, and became division director in 2006.
Working with leaders of the profession, she helped represent veterinarians’ interests during crafting of regulations by the Food and Drug Administration to implement extralabel drug use and during changes to vaccine labels by the Department of Agriculture to feature clinically relevant information. She participated in creating the AVMA “Vaccination Principles” and in influencing the Animal Drug Availability Act and the Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act.
As assistant executive vice president, Dr. Curry-Galvin said, “I enjoyed the broad involvement across the whole organization, its strategy and operations and full complement of products, programs, and services for AVMA’s professionally diverse membership.”
She said the AVMA recently has been “operationalizing a member-centric strategy that grows our knowledge of member needs and assesses our performance to help us better plan—in an associationwide fashion—the best use of our resources to satisfy members.”
The AVMA also has been seeking to tell its story better to its members. She said, “The AVMA protects, promotes, and advances veterinary medicine in tandem with its members, and we do that through public policy and advocacy, tangible products and services, and accreditation and certification to maintain standards. It’s a great story to tell.”
Dr. Curry-Galvin wrestled for more than a year with the decision to retire. She plans to spend more time with her 9-year-old daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Paul.
After earning a law degree in 1985, Hochstadt went on to work in governmental affairs and association management for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Bar Association, and Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. He earned designation as a certified association executive from the American Society of Association Executives in 1999.
Hochstadt joined the AVMA staff in 2005 to create a program to provide support in governmental relations for state VMAs and other veterinary associations allied with the AVMA.
He said, “We turned a fairly vague notion into the reality of a proactive center that provides real value to the profession and its state and allied leadership.”
In 2015, Hochstadt joined the North American Veterinary Community as senior director of industry services and executive director of the Veterinary Innovation Council.
As deputy CEO of the AVMA, Hochstadt said, “I look forward to playing a key role in operationalizing the strategic plan into real-world deliverables, making it come alive, so to speak.”
He said, “The AVMA is and will continue to be the recognized voice of the profession, speaking to key constituencies on the issues that matter.”
Dr. Granstrom, while taking on the role of assistant executive vice president, will continue to oversee the Accreditation and Certification Strategic Business Unit and serve as chief operating officer of the AVMA. He previously was director of the Education and Research Division, currently the only division in the Accreditation and Certification Strategic Business Unit.
Related JAVMA content:
Strategic staffing (Sept. 15, 2009)
State affairs (April 1, 2014)