In Memory: Dr. Kurt Bales (PU DVM ’87)

January 22, 2021

Purdue Veterinary Medicine mourns the passing of an alumnus, Dr. Kurt Bales, who died Wednesday, January 13. He was 58.

Born in Anderson, Ind. Dr. Bales attended Union High School in Modoc, Ind. before coming to Purdue to study veterinary medicine. After graduating in the DVM Class of 1987, Dr. Bales started work in private practice at the New Hope Veterinary Clinic in German Valley, Ill. A year later, he and his family moved to Topeka, Ind. where he worked at the King Animal Care Clinic. Then, in 1992, he returned to the New Hope Veterinary Clinic in Illinois where remained in practice for 27 years and served as as a clinic partner.

Dr. Bales and his wife, Vicki, have four children whom he cherished spending time with and working together on projects. He enjoyed traveling with his wife, music, reading, and working in his vegetable garden. He was known as a kindhearted, generous man who will be greatly missed by many.

Memorial services were held earlier this week in Freeport, Ill. Condolences and memories can be shared with the family at walkermortuary.com. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established in Dr. Bales’ name at Park Hills Church (2525 W. Stephenson St., Freeport, IL 61032) to be used in support of missionaries. Click here for a complete obituary.

Writer(s): Allison Carey | 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.