Board Of Regents Approves Name For VMBS’ New Small Animal Teaching Hospital

Story by Jennifer Gauntt, VMBS Marketing & Communications

February 11, 2025

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) newest veterinary teaching and research facility will be officially named Linda & Dennis Clark ’68 Small Animal Teaching Hospital.

Approved on Feb. 6 by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the Linda & Dennis Clark ’68 Small Animal Teaching Hospital — previously known as the Clinical Veterinary Teaching & Research Complex — will be the new home for exemplary veterinary education, advanced patient care, and groundbreaking research across 15 veterinary specialties.

The 135,000 square-foot building will be located on the corner of Agronomy Road and Raymond Stotzer Parkway, where Veterinary Medical Sciences Building 507 currently stands and approximately 500 feet from the location of the current Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH).

The new facility’s namesakes, Linda and Dennis ’68 ’71 Clark, pledged the lead, $20 million gift in March 2023, when the fundraising campaign for the $181 million hospital was officially announced. Previously, the Clarks have endowed two chairs within the VMBS, in the departments of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

“The continued generosity of the Clarks will leave a lasting legacy, not just for the VMBS and Texas A&M, but for the future of veterinary medicine itself,” said Dr. John R. August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M. “The Linda & Dennis Clark ’68 Small Animal Teaching Hospital will be a place where students learn, faculty and staff innovate, and companion animals receive the very best, most compassionate care. Through the Clarks’ remarkable ongoing support, the work being done in this new facility will touch lives across the country — and even beyond.”

The Clarks were inspired to support the project because of their passion for animals, the transformative experiences they’ve had with animal care and research at the VMBS, and the opportunity to provide future generations of Aggies with the resources to revolutionize their field.

“Animals have always been an integral part of our lives. We consider ours to be part of our family,” said Linda of their four dogs, 44 horses, and two cats.

As longtime clients of the VMBS’ Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital — which comprises the Small and Large Animal Teaching hospitals — the Clarks brought their two Labrador retrievers, Molly and Cadbury, to Texas A&M for canine knee replacements at the current SATH. Through their surgeon, Dr. Brian Saunders ’98 ’01 ’05, the Clarks began to learn more about the innovative, and lifesaving, research being conducted by clinician-scientists within the hospital.

“This university has an extraordinary veterinary school with talented people doing exciting research that will not only improve animal care but may also impact humans down the road,” Linda has said. “This gift was a big decision for us, and it ultimately came from us asking ourselves, ‘How can we facilitate what’s going on and help make it be the best it can be?’”

“The idea of being part of the development of a world-class small animal teaching and research hospital that matched the outstanding research, education, and care already provided at Texas A&M made a lot of sense and was something we really wanted to help with,” Dennis said.  

The project also has received generous support from the Texas Legislature, the Texas A&M University System, and Texas A&M University, as well as many other alumni and friends, whose partnerships generated more than $10 million during the campaign’s quiet phase.

Construction of the hospital was approved by TAMUS Board of Regents in November 2024.

Vaughn Construction began the first phase of the project in January, when crews began placing fencing around the construction site, with abatement and demolition of Veterinary Medical Sciences Building 507 expected to be completed by April. Phase two will follow, with site preparation and construction of the building foundation beginning in June.

The new hospital — designed by Page Southerland Page architects, with associate architect Foil Wyatt — is slated for occupancy in August 2027. To learn more about the Linda & Dennis Clark ’68 Small Animal Teaching Hospital, visit tx.ag/NextGenVetHospital.

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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216

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