Dr. John August is a native of Surrey, England. He received his pre-veterinary education at Eastbourne College in Sussex, England. In 1973, he graduated with honors from the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London and became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Following an internship and residency in small animal internal medicine, he remained on the faculty at Auburn University as an Assistant Professor until 1982. While at Auburn, he was awarded the Master of Science degree in 1977 and became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Specialty of Internal Medicine) in 1979. He joined the faculty of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine as Associate Professor and Coordinator of Medical Services in 1982 and was appointed Professor of Companion Animal Medicine in 1986.
From 1986-1997, August was Professor and Head of the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at Texas A&M University and served as Deputy Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. He received the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award in Administration in 1994. He has also served as Interim Head of the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology. In 2014, he was appointed Associate Dean of Faculties and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University. On Feb. 12, 2016, he was appointed Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost at Texas A&M University. In 2019, he assumed the role of Interim Dean for the School of Public Health at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
His professional interests include feline internal medicine, distance education, and the effective use of educational technology in the classroom to promote learning.
Dr. August shared responsibility for the feline internal medicine service in the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for 15 years. In 2014, he was selected as the Evelyn Williams Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney. He was the editor-in-chief of Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine, volumes 1 through 6, published by Saunders Elsevier. Volume 6 was published in 2010.
On July 1, 2020, he was appointed interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and on Sept. 9, 2020, began a two-year term as dean of the VMBS. On March 9, 2022, Texas A&M University Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Timothy P. Scott announced an extension of his term. With the approval of Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, he will serve as the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine through Aug. 31, 2025.