2008 CRWAD Dedicatee - Dr. Sidney A. Ewing

2008 CRWAD Dedicatee

Dr. Sidney A. Ewing – by Dr. Kathy Kocan

I have been waiting years for the opportunity to write this profile of this year's dedicatee but have had to delay until he actually retired! In 1998 I organized a Mini Symposium in honor of Dr. Ewing’s then anticipated retirement but his retirement was postponed because he rose to the occasion to serve as Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University from 2001 to 2003. He retired from OSU in 2003, but did not formally become a Life Member of CRWAD until 2006.

I do not know of a person more deserving of the honor of being named the Dedicatee for the 2008 CRWAD Meeting. Dr. Ewing has been a member and supporter of CRWAD for 50 years. He gave his first paper at CRWAD in 1958 after he received his DVM from the University of Georgia, just three months after beginning work on his MS at the University of Wisconsin with Dr. Arlie Todd. Though he (and his dairy farmer father) thought he might work on parasites in dairy cattle at Wisconsin, his research centered on swine lungworms, from metastrongylosis in swine from a Wisconsin packing house to feral swine from South Georgia swamps, from anthelmintic trials to a lungworm population study in which he demonstrated an unexpected positive interaction between 2 species of Metastrongylus in experimentally infected swine.

After moving to Oklahoma State (the first of three times), he turned his attention to blood parasites. He gave papers on hematoparasites of dogs, Babesia and Ehrlichia (first report of the genus in North America) while he worked on his PhD at OSU with Dr. Wendell Krull. Then, at Kansas State University, besides providing diagnostic expertise and teaching veterinary and graduate students, his research turned to a variety of parasites. Publications from this period ranged from work dealing with two nematodes, Skrjabingylus in skunks and Dracunculus in raccoons and another, Tetrameres in pigeons, to further studies of hematoparasites in dogs as well as other protozoans in dogs (Balantidium), in cattle (Trypanosoma), and a mite (Cheyletiella) on dogs, as well as a a trematode in a cinnamon ringtail monkey. Much of this work was reported at CRWAD by Dr. Ewing and his students during his years at KSU, Mississippi State University and OSU.

His first professional service to CRWAD was as chair of the Parasitology Section in 1973 and 1974. While serving as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota from 1972-1978, he regularly attended CRWAD meetings and facilitated participation of his faculty and their students. After Dr. Ewing returned to OSU in 1979, he became a member of the CRWAD Council and subsequently was Vice-President in 1983-1984 and President in 1984-1985. During his council years he served on a variety of CRWAD committees. He regularly presented papers on his research on ehrlichial and other tick-borne pathogens and contributed six profiles of CRWAD members for the annual program. At the 2006 meeting, he presented a paper on Maurice C. Hall, a pioneer veterinary parasitologist, just one facet of his current research into the history of veterinary parasitology.

Sidney Ewing has had a remarkable career in all aspects, service, administration, teaching and research. While many professors excel in one or two areas, he has excelled in all facets of his career. A strong mentor of students from undergraduates to veterinary and graduate students, the quality of his teaching has been recognized with distinguished teaching awards. His impact on students' lives is reflected in the decisions of a graduate student and a veterinary student to name sons in his honor. Aside from his role as Dean, he served as Department Head four times, as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs twice and held the Wendell H. and Nellie G. Krull Professorship in Veterinary Parasitology. In retirement he is an active Professor Emeritus and continues to be part of our College community. Both his tactful counsel grounded in common sense and his institutional memory are valued highly. He continues to contribute to research, most recently an author on two publications in 2008. His contributions to research on tick-borne pathogens are notable and he received the Beecham Award for Research Excellence in 1991. In 1992, a tick-borne rickettsia, Ehrlichia ewingii, was named in his honor. He received OSU’s highest honor for scholarly accomplishments, the Eminent Professor Award, in 1997; and in 2000, Dr. Ewing was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame. In honor of his contributions, the Sidney Ewing Scholarship for Graduate Study in Parasitology was established in 2001 by his veterinary classmates at the University of Georgia. In 2002 he was named the Distinguished Veterinary Parasitologist by the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists. He was presented the Practitioner to Faculty Award in 2005 by the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association and that organization recognized him again in 2007 for his book on its history. His first honor in parasitology was the naming of a nematode for him, a parasite of pines that he discovered in 1956. We are glad he turned his efforts toward animal parasites thereafter.

I know first hand the excellent ability of Dr. Ewing to mentor graduate students. He served as my major advisor after I was abandoned by most of my committee. I consider this exceptional good fortune, in part, because no one can edit a manuscript like Dr. Ewing. When I really need an absolutely clean and concise manuscript, I still seek his help, which he has been most gracious to provide and would do so even without the payoff of an excellent box of chocolates!

Dr. Ewing has had a long and distinguished career in veterinary medicine, has provided effective administration, and has positively influenced many undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students. He has made important contributions to tick-borne disease research and, most importantly, has upheld high standards of science, education and human values, thus serving as an excellent role model for all of us.

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