Georgia alumni recognized by college
The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine honored four alumni with awards for service to the veterinary college and the veterinary profession during its 54th Annual Veterinary Conference and Alumni Weekend, March 24.
Drs. Jarred M. Williams (Georgia ’06) of Athens, Georgia, and Jamie C. Brown (Georgia ’07) of San Antonio each won the Young Achiever Award.
Dr. Williams has amassed a set of credentials and secured his foothold in veterinary academia, specifically in the budding area of large animal emergency and critical care medicine, during the 11 years since his graduation.
After receiving his DVM degree, Dr. Williams undertook an internship in equine medicine and surgery at the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in Los Olivos, California. He then tackled two residencies and a doctoral program—within a span of six years—at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Williams is certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, in Large Animal, and by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care.
He returned to the University of Georgia in 2013 as a clinical assistant professor of large animal emergency medicine and surgery.
Dr. Brown currently serves as chief of surgery at the Department of Defense Holland Military Working Dog Hospital. He oversees surgical care of more than 800 dogs in training and a worldwide referral network for military and governmental agency working dogs.
Dr. Brown entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps as a captain; in 2012, he was promoted to major. He has deployed to Mali and other parts of Africa as well as Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, providing humanitarian support, coordinating evacuation plans for working dogs, and training human emergency personnel for veterinary emergencies. He served five years supporting special operations forces, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. As regimental veterinarian, he designed and implemented canine trauma training for handlers and medics and ensured deployment readiness for working dogs.
Dr. Brown returned to Georgia’s veterinary college in 2013 for a small animal surgical residency and became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons this March.
Dr. David G. Pugh (Georgia ’81) of Waverly, Alabama, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Following veterinary college, he completed a postdoctoral program at Virginia Tech, a residency at Texas A&M University, and, after he turned 60, a second master’s degree in entomology and external parasites from Auburn University. He is a diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists, American College of Veterinary Nutrition, and American College of Veterinary Microbiologists.
Dr. Pugh is currently the director of the Alabama Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System and a clinical professor in the Department of Pathobiology at Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
As an equine and small ruminant veterinarian, Dr. Pugh has contributed to 14 textbooks as author and editor, and has authored or co-authored more than 600 publications. He has also served on more than three dozen committees with outcomes directly impacting animal health at the state, regional, and national levels.
Dr. Karen M. Bradley (Georgia ’96) is a small animal practitioner and owner of Onion River Animal Hospital in Middlesex, Vermont. She is active in leadership roles at the state and national levels, and encourages other women to become leaders, too.
Recently elected to a six-year term as the District I member of the AVMA Board of Directors, Dr. Bradley represented the Vermont VMA in the AVMA House of Delegates from 2008-15 as its alternate delegate and then delegate. She served three years on the House Advisory Committee, including as both vice chair and chair. From 2013-14, she chaired the AVMA Governance Engagement Team.
In 2013, Dr. Bradley helped found the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative, which inspires and supports women in seeking leadership, policy, and decision-making positions within all areas of veterinary medicine.