Texas A&M University Veterinary Professor Earns AAVMC Leadership in Public Policy Award

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) announced today that Dr. L. Garry Adams, a professor from the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is the recipient of the 2015 Senator John Melcher, DVM Leadership in Public Policy Award.

Dr. L. Garry Adams
Dr. L. Garry Adams

“I am honored and awed to receive the 2015 Senator John Melcher, DVM Leadership in Public Policy Award,” Adams said. “Senator Melcher is a man of wisdom, high integrity and unselfish service to mankind.  He spent his years in the Senate working to make life better for people and animals alike, so to receive an award bearing his name is a significant honor for me. I am humbled and thankful to him and to everyone who walked along side me on this journey.”The award, established in 2007, is presented to current or former faculty, staff, or students at an AAVMC member institution to recognize leadership in public policy that advances veterinary medical education and success in advocating for veterinary medical education on a national or international scale.

He will receive the award during the AAVMC’s 2015 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday, March 13, before more than 200 conference attendees, including veterinary college deans, faculty and associated dignitaries from throughout the United States and the world.

“In my 10 years of experience in the AAVMC, I consistently found the AAVMC to provide an environment where the education of our profession was objectively analyzed for strengths and weakness as well as for formulating new pathways for enhancing veterinary medical education with the vision of improving animal health and well-being,” Adams said. “Now once again, I look forward to the annual AAVMC meeting and receiving the awesome award of a lifetime!”

Adams has provided leadership on many boards and scientific committees, including the American Veterinary Medical Association and the National Academy of Sciences. He has testified before many congressional hearings that helped shape national policy, including presenting invited testimony for the U.S. Congressional House Select Committee’s “Bioshield: Countering the Bioterrorist Threat” panel.

Adams served as chair of the brucellosis and the tuberculosis scientific advisory committees of the United States Animal Health Association, providing guidance on the scientific basis for implementing rules impacting international trade policies with Mexico and Canada. He also served as the scientific leader of biologic systems research for the Department of Homeland Security and the National Center of Excellence for Foreign and Zoonotic Disease Defense, developing countermeasures against exotic diseases that could erode the nation’s food security.

“Dr. Garry Adams has dedicated his career to the advancement of veterinary medicine and education,” said Dr. Eleanor M. Green, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M. “He has achieved international recognition for his excellence in research, and is now honored for his advocacy on behalf of our profession and veterinary education. We are so proud of Dr. Adams and this well-deserved award.”

In nominating Adams for the award, Dr. Linda Logan, professor and head of Texas A&M’s Veterinary Pathobiology Department, wrote that Adams is “iconic in his discipline. He is well respected for his professional competence. His standards have always been high, and his integrity and ethics are unquestionable.” She also described him as well-liked, approachable, engaging, and “a great role-model and advocate for veterinary medical education on both a national and international scale.”

In addition, his long-standing commitment to his students and post-docs, which includes mentoring 69 post-graduate students from 13 countries, “is a daily example of quality science, the value of veterinary education, and the need for veterinarians to be engaged in research and public policy,” she said.

Adams earned his bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M) and his doctorate in veterinary pathology, all from Texas A&M.

The AAVMC is a nonprofit membership organization working to protect and improve the health and welfare of animals, people and the environment by advancing academic veterinary medicine. Its members include 35 veterinary medical colleges in the United States and Canada, nine departments of veterinary science, eight departments of comparative medicine, thirteen international colleges of veterinary medicine, and six affiliate colleges of veterinary medicine: www.aavmc.org


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