— Remembering Those We’ve Lost

Alan Kocan, OSU emeritus professor of veterinary pathobiology, died Dec. 15, 2004, leaving behind many friends and colleagues at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. At the time, he was teaching at Ross University, St. Kitts, French West Indies.

Kocan earned a bachelor’s degree from Hiram College in 1968, a master’s in public health in 1969 and a doctorate in parasitology in 1973 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1974 he joined the faculty at CVHS where he remained until he retired in 2004.

Kocan’s research interests were in tick transmitted parasitic and infectious diseases of wild and domestic animals. He was recognized worldwide for his research on the role of wildlife as reservoirs for tick-borne pathogens, and he held a patent on development of control measures using medicated bait to reduce tick transmission of these pathogens.

He authored or co-authored approximately 90 scientific research papers and communicated with people in various academic, wildlife and agricultural sectors through more than 30 extension publications. In addition, Kocan instructed and developed courses in veterinary parasitology and mentored 16 graduate students to 17 degrees over his career.

Kocan received many honors and awards including the Family Alumni Achievement Award from Hiram College, the Beecham Award for Research Excellence from OSU and the MSD AgVet Award for Creativity.

He was a visiting scientist at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa, a visiting lecturer at Friday Harbor Marine Laboratories at the University of Washington and also served as a senior research fellow at the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation, Granada, West Indies.

Dr. Bruce L. Blauch, associate professor at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences from 1958-1965, died Jan. 8, 2005, in Manhattan, Kan.

Blauch, a fighter pilot during World War II, earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 from Pennsylvania State University, where he was also a varsity wrestler. He earned a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1956 and a master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1969.

He worked in private veterinary practice in New Jersey before joining the CVHS faculty in 1958. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1962 and moved to Kansas State University in 1965.

For the rest of his career he served as a clinician at Dykstra Veterinary Hospital, focusing his teaching and research on diseases of the nervous system of dogs and cats. A skilled veterinary neurologist, Blauch was recognized for making important advances in the understanding of brain and spinal cord disease of dogs and cats.

He published some of his studies in professional journals and developed an extensive library of film suitable for the study of canine and feline neurologic and ophthalmologic disorders.

Dr. E. Tom Thorne, class of ’67, and his wife, Dr. Beth Williams, also a veterinarian, died in a snowy-weather crash in northern Colorado in December 2004.

Thorne joined the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a wildlife veterinarian in 1968. For 29 years, he supervised wildlife research projects and provided on-site veterinary help with wildlife trappings and relocation projects throughout Wyoming.

He became the services division assistant chief and was later promoted to division chief in October 1999. In May 2002, Gov. Jim Geringer named him acting game and fish director, a job he held until his retirement in March 2003.

Shortly after retiring, he rejoined the Game and Fish Department as a wildlife disease consultant. He was a prominent expert on brucellosis in bison and elk, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk and other wildlife diseases.

Williams was also well known for her expertise with wildlife diseases, including chronic wasting disease.

Thorne and Williams, leaders in the efforts that saved the blackfooted ferret from extinction, dedicated their professional lives to solving wildlife problems. The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission renamed their facilities the Tom Thorne/Beth Williams Wildlife Research Center at Sybille and the Tom Thorne/Beth Williams Wildlife Habitat Management Area in their honor.