Accolades
Organization
Dr. Shirley D. Johnston (WSU '74) has joined the Found Animals Foundation as director of scientific research. The foundation is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to animal welfare issues and led by business and medical professionals. Dr. Johnston will oversee the foundation's Michelson Prize & Grants in reproductive biology. The $75 million initiative's purpose is to inspire researchers from various scientific fields to pursue the development of a low-cost, nonsurgical sterilization product for cats and dogs.
Dr. Johnston's career includes academic faculty and administrative experience, focusing on canine and feline reproductive endocrinology. She established and led the Endocrine Laboratory as well as the Small Animal Reproduction Clinical Services at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Johnston also was the founding dean of the Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine, where she most recently had served as vice president of university advancement.
Academia
Four University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine alumni were given the school's highest honor for their contributions to veterinary medicine.
Drs. David A. Jessup, Linda J. Lowenstine, Douglas R. Mader, and M.D. Salman were given the university's Alumni Achievement Award June 12 during the 2009 commencement ceremony.
Dr. Jessup (WSU '76) earned a master's of preventive veterinary medicine from UC-Davis in 1984. He is the senior wildlife veterinarian for the Office of Spill Prevention and Response in the California Department of Fish and Game and has chaired the AVMA Committee on Environmental Issues. He was given the award for contributions in the development and growth of wildlife and conservation medicine.
Dr. Lowenstine (CAL '73) is a professor in the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology at the UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She was given the award for advancement of comparative pathology in nondomestic animal species.
Dr. Mader (CAL '86) is the owner and director of Marathon Veterinary Hospital in Marathon Key, Fla. He was given the award for contributions to animal welfare as a teacher, researcher, author, and practitioner.
Dr. Salman (BAG '73) earned a master's of preventive veterinary medicine degree from UC-Davis in 1980 and a doctorate in 1983. He is a professor of epidemiology at the Animal Population Health Institute at Colorado State University. He was given the award for global contributions to animal population health and veterinary epidemiology.