Accolades
American Association of Bovine Practitioners
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners honored the 2010 recipients of seven awards at the organization's 43rd annual conference Aug. 18-21 in Albuquerque, N.M.
Dr. Joseph J. Klopfenstein (PUR '83) of Vergennes, Vt., received the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Bovine Practitioner of the Year Award.
Dr. Dale A. Moore (CAL '83) of Moscow, Idaho, received the Alpharma AABP Award of Excellence.
Dr. Stephen D. Lewis (TEX '79) of Umbarger, Texas, received the Merial Excellence in Preventive Medicine–Beef Award.
Dr. Jerome M. Gaska (WIS '89) of Columbus, Wis., received the Merial Excellence in Preventive Medicine–Dairy Award.
Dr. Mark F. Spire (TEX '74) of Manhattan, Kan., received the Pfizer Animal Health AABP Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Kenneth E. Leslie (ONT '74) of Guelph, Ontario, received the AABP and Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health Mentor of the Year Award.
Dr. Joe C. Gillespie (TEX '95) of McCook, Neb., received the Dairy Quality Center 2010 Quality Veterinarian of the Year Award.
Organization
The American Humane Association named Robin Ganzert, PhD, as president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. Dr. Ganzert formerly served as deputy director of philanthropic services at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Ganzert replaced interim president and CEO George C. Casey, who guided the organization since the departure of CEO Marie Belew Wheatley in January.
Academia
The University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies awarded its highest honor to Dr. Peter Eyre (EDN '60) during a graduation ceremony held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July.
The professor and dean emeritus of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine received a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery—honoris causa, for his contributions to veterinary medicine.
As a biomedical researcher, Dr. Eyre has authored more than 350 scientific publications.
He served as dean of the Virginia-Maryland veterinary college from 1985-2003 and is credited with leading a series of initiatives that consolidated the operating partnership between Virginia and Maryland, fortified the college's political and economic foundations, and developed its programs.
The University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and its alumni association presented five Dr. Erwin Small Distinguished Alumni Awards and a Special Service Award on Sept. 9.
Dr. Karen M. Becker (IL '87) of Rockville, Md., is senior animal health adviser for the Africa Bureau in the Office of Sustainable Development for the U.S. Agency for International Development. She was recognized for her leadership in the areas of veterinary public health, national policy, and international infectious disease epidemiology.
Dr. Becker once held an AVMA Congressional Science Fellowship, working in the Senate for the late Edward Kennedy and Barbara Mikulski on health-care policy. Dr. Becker joined the federal government in 1998 and moved to her current role at USAID in 2006.
Dr. Joseph T. Bielitzki (IL '76) of Winter Garden, Fla., is the attending veterinarian at the Sanford-Burnham Biomedical Research Institute in Orlando, and research manager of the Human Research Protection Program in the Office of Research and Commercialization at the University of Central Florida.
He was acknowledged for his contributions in the areas of ethics and animals, and globalization of nonhuman primate and zoo animal use and care.
Dr. Bielitzki's career has included serving as program manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and as chief veterinary officer for NASA. Most recently, Dr. Bielitzki helped to transport gorillas from a sanctuary in Rwanda to a sanctuary in the Congo.
Dr. Michael D. Kastello (IL '70) of Bridgewater, N.J., is vice president of global laboratory animal science and welfare at Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals.
He is being honored for his nearly 40 years of experience in biomedical research, laboratory systems management, and animal care and use in industry as well as in government programs.
The subjects of Dr. Kastello's research have ranged from pathogenesis of high-hazard microorganisms to preclinical safety assessment of potential antiviral and antineoplastic agents.
Dr. Donald P. Knowles (IL '82) of Pullman, Wash., is a professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Previously, he was a research scientist at the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture. There, Dr. Knowles conducted research on gammaherpes viruses, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ovine progressive pneumonia and caprine arthritis encephalitis viruses, prion diseases, and the diseases resulting from interactions of bighorn sheep and domestic sheep.
Dr. Michael M. Pavletic (IL '74) of Hopkinton, Mass., is director of surgical services at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston.
He is being honored for his long teaching career, which includes 20 years at two universities—Louisiana State and Tufts—where he trained veterinary students, interns, and residents in soft tissue surgery.
Dr. Pavletic has been recognized as a leading authority in small animal wound management and reconstructive surgery, and he has developed more than 50 original surgical techniques.
B. Joseph White, PhD, and his wife, Mary, were presented with a Special Service Award.
Dr. White, former president of the University of Illinois, helped raise awareness of college programs by speaking at the 2007 One Health Summit and the 2009 grand opening of the Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine. In addition, this year the Whites, supporters of the human-animal bond, attended the college's annual Oskee Bow Wow fundraising event, at which their dog, Webster, served as the official greeter.
The National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense at Texas A&M University has named a new director.
Dr. Tammy R. Beckham (AUB '98) has served as the center's interim director since March and will continue to serve as director at the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. She also will serve as director of the Institute for Countermeasures against Agricultural Bioterrorism, a collaboration of Texas-based research entities.
Before joining the diagnostics laboratory in 2008, Dr. Beckham worked as director of the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, a part of the Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.
Dr. Beckham is vice chair of the Foreign and Emerging Disease Committee for the U.S. Animal Health Association. She also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.
Government
Col. Peter J. Schultheiss (MIN '85), an Army Veterinary Corps officer with 24 years of service, assumed command of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., on July 16.
The institute is the Defense Department's primary laboratory for conducting medical chemical defense research. Col. Schultheiss is the fourth Veterinary Corps officer to assume command of the USAMRICD.
For the past two years, Col. Schultheiss has served as USAMRICD's deputy commander for administration.
Following a year of mixed animal practice, he entered the Army as a first lieutenant in the Veterinary Corps.
A member of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, Col. Schultheiss has held numerous positions, including a stint as special assistant for veterinary medicine to the Navy Surgeon General.
Dr. J.P. Dubey (MPC '60) has been inducted into the Agricultural Research Service Science Hall of Fame for his efforts to help control parasite-caused diseases of people, livestock, and pets.
The Department of Agriculture's ARS established its Science Hall of Fame to recognize agency researchers for lifelong achievements in agricultural sciences and technology.
Dr. Dubey is credited with advancing the understanding of toxoplasmosis, neosporosis, and equine protozoal myeloencephalitis. "His findings have improved human health, have helped farmers and ranchers worldwide, and have benefited a veritable Noah's Ark of farm and companion animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, horses, and dogs," said ARS Administrator Edward B. Knipling.
Dr. Dubey joined the ARS in 1982 and currently works at the agency's Animal Parasitic Diseases Research Unit at Beltsville, Md.