Lesbian and Gay VMA honors AVMA reporters, editor

The Lesbian and Gay VMA presented the 2016 LGVMA Achievement Award on Aug. 8 to Malinda Larkin and R. Scott Nolen, JAVMA senior news reporters, and Dr. Kurt J. Matushek, editor-in-chief and director of the AVMA Publications Division, for commitment to an inclusive, welcome, and open professional environment through the JAVMA. 

The LGVMA cited Nolen’s April 1 news article “Making history, quietly: Joe Kinnarney is the first openly gay AVMA president” and Larkin’s June 1 news article “AVMA stands for ‘respect and dignity’ of all members” as two exemplary stories of inclusivity in the JAVMA. The LGVMA award is for individuals who provide leadership or community service to advance the LGVMA mission of fostering “acceptance and inclusivity for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities within the veterinary medical profession.”

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​	​Malinda Larkin, Dr. Kurt J. Matushek, and R. Scott Nolen (Photo by Matt Alexandre)	​

Larkin grew up in central Illinois and attended the University of Kansas. She worked at the University Daily Kansan as the multicultural reporter and as communications director for the student-run volunteer agency Center for Community Outreach. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and international studies in 2006 and began her career as a general assignment reporter for Sauk Valley News in northern Illinois. In 2008, she joined the AVMA staff as a reporter for the JAVMA. Larkin writes about veterinary academia, veterinary technicians, equine issues, and diversity and inclusion, among other topics.

Although he’s lived in the Chicago area half his life, Nolen still considers North Carolina to be home. After graduating with a journalism degree from the Moody Bible Institute in 1997, he spent nearly two years with the Chicago City News Bureau reporting on high crimes and misdemeanors in the Windy City. He left the wire service for the AVMA in 1998 and has been writing for the JAVMA ever since. Growing up, Nolen worked for veterinarians in his hometown of Hendersonville, North Carolina, and had aspirations of becoming an animal doctor himself.

A 1983 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Matushek completed a master’s degree and small animal internship at the University of Guelph Ontario Veterinary College and a residency in small animal surgery at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. He worked at a specialty hospital near Detroit and became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. In 1992, Dr. Matushek joined the AVMA staff as an assistant editor. In 2009, he became director of the Publications Division and editor-in-chief of the JAVMA and the American Journal of Veterinary Research.  

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