“Each has excelled in many different endeavors since earning his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Auburn,” said Dr. Timothy Boosinger, dean of the veterinary college. “Veterinarians are sought out as community leaders, from small towns to large cities. Our 2002 distinguished alumni are truly among the finest individuals to ever hold the title of veterinarian.”

Dr. Billie Flynn graduated in 1943 from Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, and then practiced large and small animal medicine in Canton, Miss., from 1943 until 1998. He was appointed to the Mississippi Board of Veterinary Medicine by Gov. Ross Barnett in 1960 and by all subsequent governors. He was named Mississippi’s Veterinarian of the Year in 1974 and has been inducted into the Mississippi Veterinary Hall of Fame. During the 1980s, Dr. Flynn was an instructor for Mississippi State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. 

Dr. Ed Ford, a 1958 graduate who served as a Kentucky state senator from 1978 to 1995, is the education policy advisor and special assistant to Gov. Paul Patton. Dr. Ford received the Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association in 1992 and was the 1979 Veterinarian of the Year. He was a partner in Harrison Veterinary Clinic from 1973 to 1984, and then served as director of the Grayson Foundation, 1984 to 1996. He has represented Kentucky in many national organizations, including the Southern Regional Education Board.

Dr. Robert Wilson, class of 1963, came out of retirement in 2002 and returned to Auburn to serve as head of the Department of Clinical Sciences. He had retired in 1999 as dean of Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and had previously worked at Auburn from 1986 until 1996. He served as head of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and received the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award in 1992. He also earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1974 from the University of Georgia, where he later served on the faculty.

The AU veterinary award is named in honor of veterinary pathologist Dr. Wilford Bailey who died in 2000. He held a 50-year appointment at Auburn after receiving his veterinary degree in 1942, serving in positions from instructor to university president.
 

Dr. Brosey is the U.S. Army’s chief veterinarian with the Japan District Veterinary Command in Okinawa. Dr. Davidson works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the area veterinarian in charge in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Flood is an internal medicine specialist with Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Dr. Griffies is a dermatologist with Animal Dermatology Clinic in Tustin, California, and is co-owner of Animal Dermatology Services in Marietta, Georgia. Dr. Lanz is an assistant professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Steele owns Advanced Animal Care of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where he serves as CEO and works as a full-time clinician.

The college honored two Young Achievers from the graduate class of 1992: Drs. Tannaz Amalsadvala and Elaine Coleman. Dr. Amalsadvala is a postdoctoral fellow in Auburn’s Scott-Ritchey Research Center, and Dr. Coleman is an associate professor in Auburn’s Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology.