Three Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Recognized with University-Level Distinguished Achievement Awards
COLLEGE STATION, TX – The Texas A&M Association of Former Students (AFS) honored three members of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) faculty with a University-Level Distinguished Achievement Award, one of the highest honors presented by the AFS. Dr. Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni, professor and head of the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences; Dr. Ann Kier, professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology; and Dr. Christopher Quick, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology were announced as this year’s honorees from the CVM.
Recipients are recognized for their efforts in one of several categories: teaching; research; staff; student relations; administration; extension, outreach, continuing education, and professional development; and graduate mentoring.
Tiffany-Castiglioni, Kier, and Quick earned the award in recognition of their excellence in the administration, graduate mentoring, and teaching categories, respectively.
“The faculty and staff of the CVM are dedicated to excellence in all they do every day to make our college great,” said Dr. Eleanor M. Green, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine. “It is exciting to be recognizing these three leaders from our college for their extraordinary efforts in making the CVM successful and for creating a dynamic and welcoming learning environment for our students.”
Dr. Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni joined the CVM faculty in 1982, and currently serves as a professor and department head for the Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences. Tiffany-Castiglioni also serves as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education – Biomedical Sciences Program (BIMS) within the CVM. She has served as the major professor for 18 graduate students, three of whom have been honored with AFS Distinguished Awards for Doctoral Research. In addition to her administrative duties in the CVM, Tiffany-Castiglioni has also served the university as part of the Faculty Senate and the Vision 2020 Task Force.
“Dr. Tiffany-Castiglioni is an outstanding mentor, educator, researcher, and administrator,” said Green. “She has provided outstanding leadership to create a department where faculty, staff, and students work together to lead and succeed at the national and international level.”
Dr. Ann Kier received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and DVM from Texas A&M in 1974. After completing a residency and earning a PhD from the University of Missouri, she served on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati Medical School before returning to her alma mater as Head of the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology in 1994. As a professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Kier currently directs two NIH training grants: a NIH T32 training grant recruiting DVMs for PhD training and a NIH R-25 training residents in comparative medicine. In these roles, she facilitates the development of veterinarians in biomedical research. As a graduate mentor, Kier has served as an advisor, committee member, and/or mentor for over 70 graduate and professional students.
“As a program director of two National Institutes of Health (NIH) training grants in veterinary pathobiology, Dr. Kier has mentored not only our DVM graduates, but also those from other institutions, and has encouraged them to continue learning and expanding their knowledge base,” said Dr. Linda Logan, department head of Veterinary Pathobiology. “Veterinary medicine extends far beyond the walls of the veterinary clinic, and Dr. Kier has worked diligently to recruit the best and brightest students to our PhD program, and then position them for success when they graduate.”
Dr. Christopher Quick joined the CVM Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology in 2002 after graduating with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers in 1999. Quick has developed a novel approach to break down barriers between students and professors called the “Research-Intensive Community” model. This led to the creation of the DeBakey Undergraduate Research Program in 2004, which has provided research opportunities for more than 100 students per semester. As a winner of multiple teaching awards and a Sigma Xi Outstanding Science Communicator Award, Quick’s ability to make scientific research accessible to students from K-12 and beyond through outreach programs and research-based classroom experiences has been recognized with the awarding of four competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Federation.
“Dr. Quick is a recognized leader in education and teaching,” said Dr. John Stallone, Acting department head of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology. “He has developed dynamic programs that are bringing laboratory science into the classroom, and classroom lessons into the research lab. The idea of community in teaching and learning is one that is gaining national and international attention, and Dr. Quick’s efforts to advance this concept has helped to put his programs and the CVM in a leadership role.”
Each honoree will receive a framed certificate from the AFS along with a $4,000 monetary award in a ceremony scheduled for Monday, April 28 at 1:30 pm in Rudder Theater. The awards, begun in 1955, recognize outstanding members of Texas A&M’s faculty and staff for their commitment, performance, and positive impact on Aggie students, Texas citizens, and the world around them.
