Celebration Spotlights Award-winning Faculty and Alumni

October 4, 2019

Recognition of outstanding Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty and alumni at the annual Awards Celebration was a high point of the 2019 Purdue Veterinary Conference. The event on Wednesday evening, September 18, honored the following College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members and distinguished alumni. Congratulations to each of these award winners!

Dr. Darryl Ragland, associate professor of food animal production medicine, received the inaugural Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award for faculty members who have demonstrated emerging or sustained excellence in diversity and inclusion endeavors.
Dr. Janice Kritchevsky, professor of large animal internal medicine, received the newly established Resident Mentor Award, sponsored by Drs. Catharine Scott-Moncrieff and Wally Morrison. The award recognizes a Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences faculty member who has been committed to excellence in mentoring residents, interns, or students.

Faculty Awards

Dr. John Christian | Raymond E. Plue Outstanding Teacher Award
Associate Professor of Veterinary Clinical Pathology
Lab Director and Section Chief of Clinical Pathology

Dr. Stephanie Thomovsky | Zoetis Distinguished Teacher Award
Clinical Associate Professor of Veterinary Neurology

Dr. Steve Adams | Excellence in Service Award
Professor of Large Animal Surgery

Dr. Larry Adams | Alumni Faculty Award for Excellence
Professor and Co-section Head of Small Animal Internal Medicine

Dr. Jonathan Townsend | Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award
Clinical Assistant Professor of Dairy Production Medicine
Director of Extension Programs

Dr. Joanne Messick | Excellence in Teaching Award
Professor of Veterinary Clinical Pathology

Dr. Mohamed Seleem | Excellence in Research Award
Section Head of Microbiology and Immunology
Professor of Microbiology

Dr. GuangJun Zhang | Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence
John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine

Dr. Darryl Ragland | Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award Associate Professor of Food Animal Production Medicine
Section Head of Production Medicine

Dr. Janice Kritchevski | Resident Mentor Award
Professor of Large Animal Internal Medicine

Distinguished Alumni Awards

Dr. Timothy Adams (PU DVM ‘86) | Distinguished Alumnus Award
Retired Brigadier General with the United States Army

Dr. Tom Gillespie (PU DVM ‘79) | Distinguished Alumnus Award
Retired Swine Practitioner and 2018 Master of the Pork Industry

It was a great night to be named Dr. Adams! Coincidentally, Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine Larry Adams, Professor of Large Animal Surgery Steve Adams, and U.S. Army Brigadier General, retired, Timothy Adams, all received awards at the Awards Celebration.
Dr. Tom Gillespie, a member of the Purdue DVM Class of 1979, received a Distinguished Alumnus Award for excellence in his career as a swine veterinarian and for leadership and service in organized veterinary medicine.

Writer(s): Susan Xioufaridou | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

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

This week we express our gratitude to Jennifer Danaher, who is department secretary for Veterinary Clinical Sciences.

‘Purdue Pursuits’: A PVM angle on Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups

Crafting meaningful and engaging course experiences has been at the top of Dielson Vieira’s mind ever since he joined the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s faculty in 2024. As a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Vieira is already adept at applying innovative teaching practices to classroom environments, but that doesn’t stop him from seeking out new ideas, approaches and perspectives — insights he gains through outlets like Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups.

Top tier biology journal publishes PVM study that unlocks secrets of a drug-resistant fungal pathogen, which causes serious infections in humans

Though the name “Candida auris” is far from a household term, public health experts know it well because the multi-drug-resistant fungal pathogen, which causes serious human infections, has been classified as an urgent threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Antibiotic Threats Report (2019). Dr. Shankar Thangamani, Associate Professor of Microbiology and University Faculty Scholar in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology, is researching C. auris, aided by a 2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). New research findings, just published in Nature Microbiology, show how C. auris adapts and evades the immune system.

In Print: ‘Translational Research Methods for Tauopathies’

A just-published 300-page volume edited by Jessica Fortin, Purdue assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Basic Medical Sciences, provides a significant new resource for researchers studying a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as tauopathies. “Translational Research Methods for Tauopathies” provides detailed protocols intentionally selected to serve as a basis for research laboratories seeking to further treatments for such debilitating neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

It’s Almost Here!

Though the annual Purdue Veterinary Conference is almost upon us, there’s still time to register and take advantage of this time-honored College of Veterinary Medicine fall tradition that combines excellent continuing education with fun opportunities for reconnecting with colleagues and classmates, networking, and learning about the latest veterinary trends and products. The 2026 Purdue Veterinary Conference takes place September 23–26 on the Purdue University campus. The annual event has something for everyone, from veterinarians to veterinary technicians, faculty, staff and students.