Vroegindewey honored with public service award
Dr. Gary A. Vroegindewey accepted the AVMA Public Service Award on July 17 at a reception following the Global Health Summit at AVMA Convention 2023 in Denver.
Dr. Vroegindewey (Missouri '78) is a professor as well as director of the One Health Program and the Center for Animal and Human Health in Appalachia (CAHA) at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine. In addition to developing, leading, and teaching university courses on One Health, he has overseen CAHA research and outreach programs and supported several international collaborative programs for LMU, including with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the University of Pretoria.
Dr. Vroegindewey began his career in Missouri where he owned and served as president of a mixed animal practice with multiple locations for more than 20 years. In 1999, he joined the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps as assistant chief, providing advocacy and human capital management support for active duty and reserve officers.
From 2005-09, he served as director of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Veterinary Service Activity in the Office of the Surgeon General. As director, Dr. Vroegindewey coordinated veterinary service support for DOD services and agencies and U.S. government entities and was the DOD liaison to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration, among other duties.
Dr. Vroegindewey went on to serve as assistant chief of strategic initiatives in the surgeon general's office for a year before directing global health initiatives at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine from 2010-14. In 2014, he joined the veterinary faculty of LMU.
Dr. Vroegindewey is an emeritus diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). Active in organized veterinary medicine, he has chaired the WOAH ad hoc groups on veterinary emergencies and biological threat reduction. Dr. Vroegindewey has also chaired the former AVMA Council on Communication and served on the AVMA Committee on International Veterinary Affairs (CIVA). He is a past president of the American Veterinary Medical History Society (AVMHS) and the Central Missouri Humane Society.
A version of this story appears in the August 2023 print issue of JAVMA.