Exceptional Faculty Recognized with PVM Awards for Excellence in Teaching DVM Students

November 5, 2021

Several Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty members were honored as recipients of a newly established teaching award on Tuesday, November 2, during a special presentation at the beginning of the Current Issues in Veterinary Medicine class in Lynn 1136. Dr. Kathy Salisbury, associate dean for academic affairs, and Dean Willie Reed both were on-hand to present the PVM Awards for Excellence in Teaching DVM Students. The brief ceremony also was livestreamed to another classroom (G167) so additional students could watch, given the seating limits in the lecture hall. The Current Issues in Veterinary Medicine course is required for first-, second-, and third-year DVM students.

This new award was established in December 2020 to recognize faculty for exceptional teaching during each year of the DVM program. The award is designed to foster the development of junior faculty and sustain productive senior faculty.

Individuals with a substantial teaching commitment in each class year are eligible to receive the award. The recipients are selected by a ballot sent to each DVM class with students evaluating teaching excellence using the definition:

“An outstanding teacher is one who demonstrates superior ability in communicating the chosen material to students, stimulates their desire to master the material, and guides and inspires students.”

The voting ballot was distributed in April, so the award recipients were recognized for their teaching in the 2020-2021 academic year. In announcing the recipients, Dr. Salisbury explained that the award consists of a plaque and a cash prize of $500, which elicited enthusiastic praise from the students in attendance.

Dean Reed and Dr. Figueiredo stand together holding up her plaque — Dr. Marxa Figuieredo was selected by the DVM Class of 2024 to receive the Award for Excellence in Teaching

Dr. Marxa Figuieredo was selected by the DVM Class of 2024 to receive the Award for Excellence in Teaching

Congratulations to the following recipients:

The first-year award from the DVM Class of 2024 was presented to Dr. Marxa L. Figueiredo, associate professor of basic medical sciences.
The second-year award from the DVM Class of 2023 was presented to Dr. Sanjeev Narayanan, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and head of the Department of Comparative Pathobiology.
The third-year award from the DVM Class of 2022 was presented to Dr. Chris Fulkerson, clinical associate professor of veterinary medical oncology.
There was a tie for the fourth-year award from the DVM Class of 2021. As a result, both Dr. Aimee Brooks, clinical associate professor of small animal emergency and critical care, and Dr. Emily Curry, clinical assistant professor of mobile surgery/shelter medicine, were recognized.

Dean Reed and Dr. Brooks hold up her award plaque — Dr. Aimee Brooks received the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the DVM Class of 2021

Dean Reed and Dr. Curry hold up her award plaque — Dr. Aimee Brooks received the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the DVM Class of 2021

“Thank you to this year’s recipients for their commitment to student learning and to all instructors for their investment in their students,” said Dr. Salisbury as she concluded the award presentation. Though it lasted only a few minutes during class Tuesday morning, the recognition ceremony provided an important means of continuing to honor PVM’s exceptional faculty as we work together to take the next, giant leap.

Writer(s): Madeline Brod, PVM Communications Intern | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

This week, we are proud to recognize Lorraine Fox, who is a business assistant with the Veterinary Medicine Procurement Center.

PVM Interview Days Move College Closer to Admitting the DVM Class of 2030

After a total of three afternoons dedicated to conducting in-person interviews with 226 prospective veterinary students, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is close to completing the process of admitting 84 members of the incoming first-year DVM class – the Class of 2030. The students invited for the interview days were selected from a total pool of 1,930 applicants from across the country as well as countries abroad.

Experts to Gather at Purdue for Conference Addressing the Public Health Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

The ongoing challenges posed by multi-drug resistant infections will be the focus of a multidisciplinary conference taking place in three weeks at Purdue University. The Fourth Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance is set for February 25–26, 2026 at Purdue’s Stewart Center in West Lafayette. Registration is still open for the event, which will bring together scientists and scholars from human and veterinary medicine, public health, research, and industry to address the determinants, dynamics and deterrence of drug resistance.

PVM’s Upcoming Coppoc One Health Lecture to Focus on Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine brings a leading One Health scholar to campus each year to address vital health issues from a One Health perspective as part of the Coppoc One Health Lecture series. This year’s presentation, scheduled for February 26 in Lynn Hall Room 2026, is on the engaging topic, “One Health at Home: Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure.” The speaker will be Audrey Ruple, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVPM, MRCVS, the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Professor of Veterinary Medical Informatics at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

Today we are happy to acknowledge our Student Success Center Team.

One Health: A ‘digital twin’ model for predicting cancer outcomes

The striking similarities between invasive bladder cancer in dogs and humans have fueled research advances for more than three decades. Most of that work has looked at separate aspects of the disease — risk factors, early detection, symptoms, treatment and gene expression. But a new project at Purdue University that combines many types of available data in a “digital twin” model of bladder cancer may prove powerful enough to predict patient outcomes, starting with the probability of metastasis.

Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins Wins Lifetime Achievement Award at ACVR Annual Meeting

The American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) gave its esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 to Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins, who is well known to countless Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni for the expertise he taught them about all things Diagnostic Imaging during his long Purdue career.