Dear Friends,
Homecoming and Family Weekend is just around the corner and I’d like to invite students and parents, faculty and staff members to join in the festivities the weekend of Oct. 8-11. The College will be hosting a dinner and breakfast for our Golden Grads, including the DVM Class of 1959 and earlier. This special group of graduates also will have a tour of the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital and the new Diagnostic Medicine Center, and enjoy the Saturday football game against the University of Utah. There are many activities during the weekend so be sure to check the schedule of events at http://www.homecoming.colostate.edu/.
On Oct. 19 and 20, I’ll be in Schaumburg, Illinois, for the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues meeting to look at economic concerns for veterinarians and veterinary students. This meeting is especially timely given the current state of the economy and the special challenges this raises for the veterinary profession. I look forward to reporting back to everyone on how these issues are being addressed at a national level.
In other news, I’d like to congratulate everyone involved with the new Colorado Center for Drug Discovery which recently was launched with a $2.25 million grant from the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant program. This program was created by legislation co-sponsored by Northern Colorado’s representatives Jim Riesberg and Bob Bacon, who saw the potential to not only enhance the delivery of new drugs from the lab bench to the clinic, but saw the opportunity to diversify Colorado’s manufacturing base. Work being done within the Cancer Supercluster and the Infectious Disease Supercluster will benefit greatly with this additional investment of state dollars, and give greater hope to the advancement of therapies and cures for infectious diseases and cancer (related article).
Congratulations, too, to Drs. Paul Lunn, Susan Lana, and Narda Robinson. They have each been recognized by their peers for their research, teaching and clinical accomplishments. Dr. Lunn was asked to present the Frederick Smith Lecture at the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress (related article), and Drs. Lana and Robinson were honored by the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association for their contributions to veterinary medicine (related article).
In University news, the decision has been made to conduct a national search for the Office of Provost and Executive Vice President. The Provost/Executive Vice President holds the second highest position in the Colorado State University Administration, serves on the President’s Cabinet, and is the institution’s Chief Academic Officer. Dr. Rick Miranda currently is the Interim Provost/Executive Vice President and has been encouraged to apply for the permanent position. As the Executive Dean, I have been asked to participate on the search committee and I look forward to assisting in a search that will yield the best candidate possible to take academic leadership of the University.
On a final note, later this month, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will have its annual Fall Faculty/Staff meeting. As part of the State of the College review, we will be talking about the budget planning for Fiscal Year 2011 and the potential impacts on the College and its operations. The meeting will be at the Hilton Hotel from 4:15-5:30 p.m., and I look forward to seeing everyone there.
Best Regards,
Dr. Lance Perryman
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
