AU veterinary college names 2003 distinguished alumni

The recipients, announced April 3 during the college’s 96th annual conference, are Drs. Marie Attleberger of Waverly, Ala., Robert Martin of Blacksburg, Va., and Warren Kent Sr. of Birmingham, Ala.

“They have been inspirations to countless colleagues and students for their achievements,” said Dr. Timothy Boosinger, dean of the veterinary college. “This is the 111th year of veterinary medicine at Auburn and these three individuals are among the top professionals that Auburn has ever produced.”

Dr. Attleberger, the first female recipient of the award, was the second woman to graduate from the College of Veterinary Medicine, finishing in 1947. She went on to become internationally recognized as a comparative mycologist, and she applied her talents at Auburn where she taught microbiology for forty years, beginning in 1946. She earned a master’s degree from Auburn in 1951 and later a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham in 1969. In 1984 Dr. Attleberger was named the Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year by the Association for Women Veterinarians. Upon her retirement from Auburn in 1986 she was appointed professor emeritus in the Department of Pathobiology.

Dr. Kent, who graduated in 1952, retired in 2002 after 51 years as a small animal practitioner. He served on the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from 1979-1986, and he has served as assistant state veterinarian. He was the first zoo veterinarian for Birmingham’s Jimmy Morgan Zoo and he owned and operated Wa-K Lena Polled Hereford Farm. Dr. Kent has served as president of the Jefferson County Veterinary Medical Association, the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association, and the college’s Alumni Advisory Council. The Alabama association named him Veterinarian of the Year in 1981 and presented him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1988. He received the Auburn University Foundation’s Commitment to Excellence Award in 1988 for raising support for the college.

Dr. Martin, of the class of 1976, is a professor of surgery and the director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech University. He joined Virginia Tech in 1983 and has earned numerous teaching awards, including four Teacher of the Year Awards, the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award and the Wine Teaching Award, which is the highest award given by Virginia Tech to a faculty member. The Virginia Veterinary Medical Association presented him with the Thompson Professorial Award in 1988 and the Veterinarian of the Year Award in 1999. He is a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and is director of the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians.

The AU award is named in honor of veterinary parasitologist 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.

The college also named seven Young Achievers from the class of 1993. Honorees with veterinary degrees were Drs. Martha Briley of Lake Charles, La., Joli Jarboe of Houston, Texas, Shannon McGee of Collierville, Tenn., Mark Pelham of Birmingham, Ala., and  Heidi H. Shipman of Crestwood, Ky. Honorees with advanced degrees were Drs. Dino Bradley of Somerville, N.J., and Catherine Daley of Louisville, Ky.