The College Face is Ever Changing - Summer 2006 Whether its new faculty, buildings or programs, we find that the face of the College of Veterinary Medicine is ever changing. We have witnessed in recent months the completion of the state diagnostic laboratory and of four new food animal barns. We have also added a new associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies and a new director of Laboratory Animal Health. In May, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries dedicated its new diagnostic laboratory on the campus of the College of Veterinary Medicine. The $14 million Thompson–Bishop–Sparks State Diagnostic Laboratory, named for the agriculture commissioners responsible for its construction, covers 55,000 square feet and will allow enhanced testing for animal diseases. This is highly important today because our state and country must be well prepared to deal with newly emerging diseases in our animal populations, which could in turn affect humans. In addition, diseases once thought to have only historical significance may re-emerge as a significant threat. On the same focus, the college helped sponsor the second annual Alabama Agricultural Security Conference on June 9-11 in Hoover, Alabama.In the past year, Alabama’s health professionals and first responders have addressed the nation’s third case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, two major hurricanes, and the still pending threat of a zoonotic pandemic of avian influenza. Each event has increased the bonds of cooperation between the many different agencies and people responsible for keeping our citizens and our agriculture healthy. Auburn faculty speakers at the conference were Drs. Fred Hoerr, Robert Norton, Ken Nusbaum and Jim Wohl. Veterinary alumni who spoke included Drs. Brad Fields ’05, Tony Frazier ’88 and David Suarez ’88. Our assistant dean, Dr. Gary Beard ’59, served on the conference program committee. Food animal medicine is at the forefront of keeping the food supply safe, which makes the opening of our four new food animal barns even more important. In April we completed this final phase of the John Thomas Vaughan Large Animal Teaching Hospital, which includes a beef cattle receiving barn and hospital barn, both 9,100 square feet, and a dairy milking barn and hospital barn, measuring 5,110 square feet each. We are also pleased to announce that two new faces have joined the college faculty. Dr. Carl Pinkert is new associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies. He previously served at the University of Rochester Medical Center from 2000-2006 as a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Center for Aging and Developmental Biology. Dr. Bobby Brown ’68 has joined the college as the director of Laboratory Animal Health. He will also be the associate executive director of Animal Resources for Auburn University. Dr. Brown recently retired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he had worked since 2001 as associate director for Veterinary Public Health. Look for information about these appointments in the next issue of Auburn Veterinarian. Sadly, we must say goodbye to one of our longtime faculty, Dr. Ram Purohit, who retired in March after 35 years at the college. He served as a professor of large animal surgery and medicine and as director of the residency program and graduate studies. He is board certified by the American College of Theriogenology and is known internationally for his work in infrared thermography and anesthesiology. We will have more about Dr. Purohit in our next issue as well. Our alumni and friends continue to provide great support for the college. Auburn University trustee Robert Lowder and his wife, Charlotte, have pledged $1 million for the Small Animal Teaching Hospital which has treated two of their pet Boxer dogs. We initially plan to purchase a three-dimensional radiation treatment planner and a flexible endoscope, and will allocate funds toward recruiting faculty. In 1998, they also gave $300,000 to establish the Robert and Charlotte Lowder Distinguished Professorship of Veterinary Surgery and Oncology. The college has also received a $1 million gift from the Diabetes Trust Foundation to further our studies into the disease that affects both humans and animals. Most of the gift, $900,000, will be added to the Boshell Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Research Program Endowment that was created in 2001, bringing the account total to $1.9 million. The foundation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Buris R. Boshell, a 1947 Auburn agriculture graduate who attended the veterinary college for two years before transferring to Harvard Medical School. Dr. Boshell, who died in 1995, served on the faculty at the University of Alabama in Birmingham Medical Center from 1959-1989. We are fortunate to have broad support that comes in many different forms, from large gifts to hard work by dedicated faculty, staff and students -- each helping the college achieve high standards. Thank you to everyone for supporting the College of Veterinary Medicine. Sincerely,   Dean Timothy Boosinger