Outstanding Colorado State University graduates and friends were honored at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner held on Saturday, April 18. Dr. Charles H. Hobbs was recognized as the Honor Alumnus for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
“Dr. Hobbs has been a national and international leader in the study of inhalation toxicology and we are pleased to be able to recognize his achievements with the Honor Alumnus award,” said Dr. Lance Perryman, Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Throughout his years in research and teaching, he has shown creativity and innovation in his work, as well as honor and integrity in his life.”
Dr. Hobbs graduated with High Distinction from the Professional Veterinary Medical Program in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corp from 1966 to 1969. In 1969 he joined the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute (now the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a toxicologist. In 1996, he became Director of Toxicology and Vice President of Lovelace Biomedical and Environment Research Institute.
In 1986, Dr. Hobbs joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico, in addition to his work at LRRI. Today, he is a Clinical Professor in the College of Pharmacy, and a Scientist Emeritus at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute.
During his scientific career, Dr. Hobbs' research centered on the health effects of inhaled chemicals and air pollutants, and inhaled organisms causing infectious diseases. Research in these areas ranged from physical and chemical characterization of airborne toxicants, to in vitro mechanistic and toxicologic studies. He has conducted long-term studies of the relationships between dose to critical tissues and biological effects, and the important mechanisms active in determining these relationships. He developed an Animal Biosafety Level 3 facility for study of potential bioterrorism agents at the institute. Dr. Hobbs has served as chairman or a member of committees at the National Academy of Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Hobbs is a member of the American Academy of Veterinary and Comparative Toxicology, American Veterinary Medical Association, New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Zet, Radiation Research Society, and the Society of Toxicology.
