Black Graduate Student Association Honors Professor of Animal Behavior and Well-being Candace Croney

Dr. Croney stands holding her award, which is a commemorative glass cube with a slide announcing her award with her portrait displayed behind her
Dr. Candace Croney received the Distinguished Service Award from the Purdue Black Graduate Student Association at its annual spring awards and recognition banquet.

The recipient of the Purdue University Black Graduate Student Association’s 2023 Distinguished Service Award is the director of the Purdue Center for Animal Welfare Science (CAWS) and professor of animal behavior and well-being, Dr. Candace Croney, who holds a joint faculty appointment in the colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture.  Dr. Croney was presented with the award at the end of the spring semester during the Black Graduate Student Association’s (BGSA) annual awards and recognition banquet April 29. The event celebrates the accomplishments of the BGSA membership, distinguished community organizations, and members of the Purdue community.

The Distinguished Service Award honors individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to Black Higher Education within the state of Indiana. In addition to her faculty role and responsibilities as CAWS director, Dr. Croney also is the Purdue associate vice provost for diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

The PVM group poses for a photo standing behind their dinner table at the banquet
Dr. Croney was joined at the banquet by (left-right): Dr. Sanjeev Narayanan, head of the Department of Comparative Pathobiology; Purdue PREP scholar Gabriel Harris; Marsha Baker, PVM assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion; Dr. Paula Johnson, clinical associate professor of small animal emergency and critical care; and Dr. Croney’s PhD student, Kayla Pasteur.

The Purdue BGSA is a non-profit student organization committed to the unification of its members through the facilitation of programs that strengthen the community of Black graduate and professional students across all disciplines. It serves to enrich the graduate school experience of students interested in Black culture. The BGSA fulfills this goal through programming that offers opportunities for professional and scholarly development, community involvement, and social exchange.

Congratulations Dr. Croney!

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

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

The Wellness Committee would like to extend a heartfelt Paws Up to Laurie Marsh, who is a supervisor for the Emergency Critical Care & Small Animal Reception team.

Purdue VBMA Club Hosts Picture-perfect Activity

When veterinary students in the Purdue Chapter of the Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) were looking for a new event to host as a student organization, an intriguing idea came to mind that was easy to “picture” as a perfect success!  So the club set out to plan the activity in order to meet an important need of the club members while also providing a fun chance for the students to get keepsake images of their furry study buddies.

PVM Faculty Legends Honored at 25th Annual Healing Oasis Wellness Center Conference 

The theme “Knowledge – Like a Precious Metal, is PRICELESS,” proved especially appropriate for the 25th anniversary of the annual Healing Oasis Wellness Center Conference spearheaded by a Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumnus, Dr. Pedro Rivera.  That’s because the conference, held at the end of 2025 at the National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, Illinois, gave special recognition to legendary Purdue Veterinary Medicine educators Kathy Salisbury and Ron Hullinger.

How the Brain Recognizes What It’s Seen Before and Why It Matters for Autism Research

When you walk into a familiar place — your kitchen, a classroom, or your neighborhood — your brain instantly starts matching what you see with memories of past experiences. A new study from Purdue University reveals a key piece of how that recognition process works, and why it may be disrupted in conditions such as Fragile X syndrome, a leading inherited cause of autism.

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

Today we are recognizing Chloe Morris, RVT, who is a veterinary technologist in Anesthesiology in the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital.

Partnership to make Purdue Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program available to employees at more than 1,000 general practice veterinary hospitals

Already Purdue’s largest online program, the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Nursing Distance Learning program is partnering with National Veterinary Associates General Practice to offer the VNDL program to technicians at NVA’s more than 1,000 general practice veterinary hospitals.

PVM Distinguished Professor Suresh Mittal to Speak at Purdue’s Westwood Lecture Series

The Westwood Lecture Series is part of Purdue President Mung Chiang’s efforts aimed at enhancing the intellectual vibrancy of the Purdue West Lafayette campus, and the next featured speaker is Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Distinguished Professor of Virology, Dr. Suresh Mittal. His presentation entitled, “Universal Influenza Vaccine — An Aspiration or Reality?” is scheduled for January 28, and registration for the lecture is now open.

PVM Concludes 2024 with Recognition of Service Anniversaries and Award-winning Staff

As 2024 came to a close at Purdue University, the College of Veterinary Medicine continued a long-standing tradition of celebrating staff service anniversaries and recognizing staff and faculty accomplishments at the Staff Service Recognition Ceremony. Held in Lynn 1136 on Wednesday, December 18, the ceremony honored more than 70 PVM personnel.