News in Brief
Professor Boyd Jones receives Honorary Life Membership of the NZVA CAV are very proud to report that last June, a CAV Life Member, Professor Emeritus Boyd Jones was awarded life membership of the NZVA. The following is excerpted from Lotte Cantley’s nomination proposal.
Professor Jones is widely regarded by the veterinary profession in New Zealand as the ‘father of companion animal medicine’. He has the enormous respect of veterinarians both nationally and internationally. As well as his academic and scholarly achievements, he has served the profession through extensive involvement with the NZVA, the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) and the VCNZ. Boyd gained his BVSc in 1967 as one of first cohort of students that graduated from Massey University. In 1974 he attained membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists (now the ANZCVS) in canine medicine, followed by fellowship of the ANZCVS in 1984. He is also a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine a fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Boyd has had a long and prestigious career at Massey University where he has taught undergraduate, clinical and postgraduate students for 22 years. He has had a major influence on the career development of many veterinarians in New Zealand, and was prominent in raising the profile of veterinary science on a national and global stage. In 1996, he moved to the University of Dublin, where he was Chair of Small Animal Clinical Studies and then Dean of Veterinary Medicine. He returned to Massey University in 2009 as Emeritus Professor, where his mentorship and support have been greatly valued. Although officially retiring in 2013, he has continued to mentor postgraduate students and to support the profession. Professor Jones has also had a long association and involvement with the NZVA. He was a founding member, in1973, of the Small Animal Society, later renamed the Companion Animal Society (CAS) and then the Companion Animal Veterinarians (CAV) branch of the NZVA. He served many years on the CAS executive committee and in 1994 he received the CAS Annual Service Award. Soon after this was he was honoured with life membership of the CAS in recognition of his service. He was editor of the CAS Newsletter (now Companion Quarterly) for many years. He continues to support the publication as a prolific author providing valuable continuing professional development resources for companion animal veterinarians in New Zealand. Boyd has also contributed significantly to the New Zealand Veterinary Journal (NZVJ) as both a board member and later chair of the board from
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2015–2020. Professor Jones helped organise and contributed to multiple NZVA conferences over several decades, as well as consulting on education programmes. He was instrumental in the founding of the Companion Animal Health Foundation (now Healthy Pets NZ), to help fund research into companion animal health matters; and the Centre for Service and Working Dog Health. In his association with the ANZCVS, he has been variously an examiner, mentor and supervisor for candidates, as well as board member and president. In 2019 he received the ANZCVS College Oration award, which gives recognition to a veterinarian in Australia or New Zealand who has made a major contribution to veterinary science, especially contributions that have a global and lasting impact. Boyd was chairman of the VCNZ from 1995–1996, as well as chairing multiple committees for this organisation. In 2015 Professor Jones was awarded Officer New Zealand Order of Merit for services to veterinary science. His achievements exceed the criteria for Honorary Life Membership of the NZVA and he would be an extremely deserving recipient of this honour.
Companion Quarterly: Official Newsletter of the Companion Animal Veterinarians Branch of the NZVA | Volume 32 No 3 | September 2021
