Knapp, Willis elected AVMA Board chair, vice chair
Updated June 26, 2024
Dr. Robert Knapp was elected 2024-25 AVMA Board of Directors (BOD) chair during the Board’s June 23 meeting during AVMA Convention 2024 in Austin, Texas. Dr. Sandy Willis was elected 2024-25 Board vice chair.
Dr. Knapp of Dublin, Ohio, joined the Board in 2019 representing District V, which covers AVMA members in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.
He received his veterinary degree in 1992 from The Ohio State University. He owns the seven-associate practice Knapp Veterinary Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, which was started by his late grandfather Dr. John Knapp (Ohio State ’32) in 1945. His father, Dr. Paul Knapp (Ohio State ’61), worked at the practice until retirement.
Early in his career, Dr. Robert Knapp became active in the Ohio VMA (OVMA), serving in various capacities including as an officer on the board of directors and as OVMA president in 2007. He was a member of the AVMA House of Delegates (HOD) from 2012-19, first as alternate delegate, then as delegate for Ohio.
As AVMA Board vice chair, Dr. Willis of Mukilteo, Washington, will substitute for Dr. Knapp in his absence and perform other duties as prescribed by the Board or the chair. She was elected to the BOD in 2020 as the District XI representative, which covers AVMA members in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.
Dr. Willis received her veterinary degree in 1984 from the University of California-Davis and later became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Prior to her election to the BOD, Dr. Willis was the Washington state alternate delegate and delegate in the HOD and chair of the House Advisory Committee (HAC). As HAC chair, she served on the Strategy Management Committee and Budget and Financial Review Committee and as a voting member of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation board of directors.
Dr. Willis is a past president of the Washington State VMA and is active in the Puget Sound VMA.
A version of this story appears in the August 2024 print issue of JAVMA