Dear Friends,
As we look to the beginning of 2008, I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on 2007, the year of the College’s Centennial Celebration. During the last 365 days, we have celebrated our accomplishments while honoring our past and preparing for our future.
There were so many wonderful events and activities including alumni receptions at the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association’s annual meeting at Copper Mountain, the American College of Veterinary Pathologists meeting in Savannah, Georgia, and the American Association of Equine Practitioners conference in Orlando. During the year, we raised $10,000 to fund the Centennial Scholarship, allowing us to give a $2,500 scholarship to one student in each of the undergraduate and professional veterinary medical degree programs.
This year, we saw the expansion of our DVM Class Scholarship Program. We now have 14 endowed scholarships and two expendable scholarships. Thanks to all our alumni who gave so generously to help future generations of veterinary students fulfill their dreams. The College also was the recipient of two $3 million gifts that created the Iron Rose Ranch University Chair in Equine Reproduction and the Abigail K. Kawananakoa University Chair in Equine Musculoskeletal Integrative Therapies. Thank you to our donors for their vision and seeing what is possible when we build together.
We saw the completion of the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory this fall and, on Dec. 7, we kick off a new era in diagnostic medicine with the groundbreaking ceremony for the long-awaited and much-needed Diagnostic Medicine Center. This follows completion of the new 330-space parking lot west of the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Our Centennial Celebration gave us the opportunity to reconnect with alumni across the state and nation as our shared excitement brought us together to commemorate the College’s colorful and illustrious history.
Speaking of that history, if you would like to keep a piece of it for yourself, we have some memorabilia remaining from the Centennial Celebration. If you would like a copy of Reflections of 100 Years, the College’s short written history and look to the future, or a copy of the Centennial Celebration DVD, we still have some available. You can contact JoEllen Linderer at joellen.linderer@colostate.edu to make your request. You also can read highlights of the College’s past 100 years at http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/development/100year_historicalfacts.cfm.
Briefly, in other news from the Dean’s office, last month we said good-bye to Liz Turney who is retiring after 27 years of service to our College and the University. She will be greatly missed. In administrative search news, we are in the process of interviewing four candidates for the position of Head of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology. In continuing education news, the College will present its 69th Annual Conference at which we’ll host a 10-year reunion dinner for the Class of 1998.
Finally, I’d like to wish a successful completion of the fall semester to all our students, and send my congratulations to our fall semester graduates. Fall Commencement activities are scheduled for Dec. 14 (graduate) and Dec. 15 (undergraduate). Happy holidays to everyone, safe travels, and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Best Regards,
Lance Perryman, DVM, PhD
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
