CVM’s Rogers Named Recipient of AAVMC 2019 Iverson Bell Award
The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) has named Dr. Kenita S. Rogers, executive associate dean at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), as the recipient of the 2019 Iverson Bell Award.
The award is presented in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions in promoting opportunities for underrepresented minorities in veterinary medical education.
“Dr. Rogers’s ongoing efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and in our profession, as a whole, have been extraordinary,” said Dr. Eleanor M. Green, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M. “Her work has had a tremendous impact on the reputation the CVM has developed in making the college a welcoming, thriving, and inclusive climate for all. We are so proud of all that Dr. Rogers has accomplished and that she is being honored for that work with this award.”
“The AAVMC is proud to recognize outstanding educators and researchers like Dr. Rogers who elevate academic veterinary medicine and inspire others through their commitment to professional excellence and service,” said AAVMC chief executive officer Dr. Andrew T. Maccabe. “We look forward to publicly honoring her for her achievements during our 2019 annual conference.”
Rogers will receive her award during the AAVMC’s 2019 Annual Conference and Iverson Bell Symposium, March 8-10, at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she will also address attendees.
“I am thrilled and humbled to receive the Iverson Bell award,” Rogers said. “I believe that it actually represents a great deal of creative and consistent work by the students, staff, and faculty of the CVM in the areas of climate, inclusion, diversity, wellness, and conflict management. I couldn’t be prouder of the passion and dedication of our incredible, collective team.”
In addition to serving as executive associate dean at the CVM, Rogers is the college’s director for inclusion and diversity.
In this capacity, she has worked to develop memoranda of agreements (MOAs) with four Texas A&M University System schools for pipeline recruitment, including one historically black university and two Hispanic-serving institutions. She also has infused the CVM’s curriculum with multiple diversity initiatives, including mandatory cultural competency and conflict management in all years and adding diversity awareness and cultural competency as required core competencies.
Her efforts also led the CVM to receive the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for Diversity in Health Professions for two consecutive years.
Rogers has presented on topics such as implicit bias at multiple national meetings and served on numerous national committees, including the AAVMC Diversity Committee and the steering committee for the Southeast DiVersity Matters Symposium. She has served as co-adviser for the national Broad Spectrum Association and received the national Broad Spectrum LGBTQ+ Awareness Award.
“The briefest conversation with her enables quick recognition of a woman with deep-rooted values that include kindness, integrity, respect, leadership, and fairness,” said CVM associate dean for professional programs Dr. Karen Cornell, who was among those who nominated Rogers for the award. “To say that she is passionate about diversity and inclusion would be a gross understatement.”
Rogers is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the specialties of internal medicine (1987) and oncology (1990), the author of more than 50 articles in refereed journals and 30 book chapters; she also has presented well over 100 continuing education seminars.
She has won numerous teaching awards, including the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award, the Richard H. Davis Teaching Award, and the College-level Association of Former Students Distinguished Teaching Award (1991, 1997, 2003).
In 2009, Rogers was named to the Dr. Charles H. and Mildred Kruse Bridges Chair in Veterinary Medical Education, and in 2011, she became director for diversity and inclusion.
She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in animal and veterinary science from West Virginia University and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Louisiana State University. She received her Master of Science degree and joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1986.
The AAVMC is a nonprofit membership organization working to protect and improve the health and welfare of animals, people and the environment around the world by advancing academic veterinary medicine. Members include 49 accredited veterinary medical colleges in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean Basin, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.
Listen to Rogers discuss her award on the AAVMC’s DiversityMatters podcast here.
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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: Megan Palsa, Executive Director of Communications, Media & Public Relations, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Science; mpalsa@cvm.tamu.edu; 979-862-4216; 979-421-3121 (cell)
