a Lifetime of achievement

Dr. Richard Blake, class of 1961, has been named 2006 Veterinarian of the Year by the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association. This is the 27th year the OVMA has given this award, and Blake is the 16th OSU alumnus to receive the honor.

Following his graduation from CVHS, Blake practiced large animal veterinary medicine in Cherokee, Okla., before moving to Sulphur Springs, Texas, to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a field veterinarian for the disease eradication division.

“I worked on the federal mandates to control certain diseases that pass from animal to animal and from animals to humans, such as brucellosis, tuberculosis, scrapie and scabies,” he says. “My territory covered 27 counties in northeast Texas.”

In 1965, he moved back to Oklahoma to join a small animal clinic in Oklahoma City and continues practicing small animal medicine today out of his home office. He has contributed countless hours to the profession in both service to clients and patients and in service to professional organizations, where he has held many leadership positions.

When asked, Blake says his greatest contribution to veterinary medicine is helping people take better care of their animals and instilling a greater appreciation for them.

He advises veterinary students, “Be more peopleoriented; work on your bedside manner, so to speak. Don’t think of the animal as another statistic or case number. Remember that these animals are an integral part of the family.”

He also stresses the importance of including children in the clinic visit.

“If you forget to look over the side of the examining table to see those two eyes looking at you wondering what you’re going to do to their animal because they aren’t tall enough to see, you’ve missed the whole point of client communication,” he says.

“Take time to bend down and talk to the children. It is important that they feel a part of taking care of their animals, too.”

DerinDa Lowe

A R k ANSAS H ONORS T HAMES

Dr. Michael D. Thames, class of 1976, was named Arkansas 2005 Veterinarian of the Year. Thames owns the Labahn Veterinary Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association as well as the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association and is active in various veterinary associations and in his community.

Last year’s award recipient, Marilyn Moffat administrative assistant at the teaching hospital, left, presents a plaque and $700 cash to the 2006 Stratton Staff Award winner Kelly McCracken, lab technologist II in toxicology at the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

The Stratton Award is particularly meaningful, McCracken says, because recipients are nominated and selected by colleagues. “It’s great to know your peers believe you’re doing a good job,” she says. The CVHS instituted the Stratton Staff Award at the retirement of Dr. Louis Stratton, the first director of the Boren Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, who wished to establish an award to recognize staff members’ outstanding contributions to the CVHS.

CON g RATU l AT i ONS FACU lTY

Dr. Subramanya Karanth has been promoted to research associate in the physiological sciences department.

Dr. Guang-ping Chen, associate professor of biochemistry and toxicology, received tenure this year. His research focuses on drug metabolizing enzymes including enzyme function, catalytic mechanism and gene regulation.

CVHS honored Maxine Miller for 30 years of service to OSU at the annual awards banquet. Miller, custodian in McElroy Hall, received a certificate and a $125 gift certificate. “Her dedication and loyalty are greatly appreciated,” says Dean Lorenz, congratulating Miller. “The college could not function without great staff like Maxine.” erinary pathobiology department as well as a microbiologist in the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. In 1993, Morton received a doctorate in veteri nary microbiology and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists.

Dr. Robert W. Fulton was named to the McCasland Endowed Chair in Food Animal Research. For 24 years, Fulton has served as a professor of veterinary virology at CVHS, including 15 years as department head and two years as assistant director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Since 1999, he has served as co-project director for grants from the Noble Foundation. The most recent grant supports research on bovine respiratory diseases or “Shipping Fever.” As the McCasland Chair, Fulton, a recognized authority on bovine virus diarrhea, will promote the CVHS research efforts to discover new vaccines to prevent diseases important to the beef cattle industry in Oklahoma.

Morton is well-known as a clinical microbiologist and for her research in tulare mia. For the past five years, she has served on a National Research Council committee to foster research collaborations between scien tists in the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. The position allows her to visit the researchers studying infectious diseases in the laboratories of Russia and former Soviet Union countries.

She has authored or co-authored more than 40 scientific papers, presented scientific papers throughout the U.S. and received numerous fellowships and grants.

A microbiology teacher since 1988, Morton has twice received the Norden Distinguished Teacher and the OSU Regents Distinguished Teaching Awards, as well as many other honors from veterinary classes.

For more than 25 years, Morton has been active in the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, American Society of Microbiology, American Veterinary Medical Association and the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Joe Howell, class of 1972, is a companion animal practitioner and co-owner of the Britton Road Veterinary Clinic in Oklahoma City. He also consults for Hill’s Pet Nutrition and a large group of veterinary

Active in organized veterinary medicine, he has served as president, vice president and secretary of the Oklahoma County Veterinary Medical Association and on the executive board of the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association. He received the OVMA President’s Award in 1990. Howell also served

Dr. Tina Neel, class of 1979, has practiced veterinary medicine in Oklahoma City for 26 years. Throughout her career, her husband, Sam Neel, has been her partner and business manager. Together they have searched for technological advances in veterinary medicine to improve their service to clients.

Neel has maintained practices with the most up-to-date technology available including in-house laboratory equipment, computerized paperless offices, laser surgery, IV pumps, computerized ECG’s and digital CR radiography. She also provides quarterly ultrasonogra- sound, endoscopy, digital radiography and the first privately-owned underwater treadmill and physical therapy/rehab program in the state, the Neel Veterinary Hospital is the first of its kind in Oklahoma.

He has also worked with the Center for Disease Control and several government agencies dealing with potential bioterrorist activities that might involve using animal diseases to target humans or animals. He chaired the AVMA President’s Roundtable in Washington, D.C., interacting with government and military veterinarians and the deans of U.S. veterinary colleges.

Howell is an active alumnus, having served on college committees and the OSU Foundation board of governors, and an active civic leader who was honored with Leadership Oklahoma City’s Paragon Award for Leadership Skills.

Neel mentors students, participates in the externship program and seeks to hire only OSU graduates. She has made many presentations to veterinary associations. Most recently she spoke on “paperless practice” at the 2006 AVMA national convention. She has also served as the moderator at Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society national meetings.

Neel’s extensive community involvement includes making veterinary presentations to middle school students and providing free assistance to animal rescue organizations.