A Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumna, longtime Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), and clinical associate professor of basic medical sciences, who also holds a PharmD degree, has received the university’s highest undergraduate teaching honor. Dr. Melinda (Mindy) Anderson, who serves as assistant dean for the Purdue Veterinary Technology Program, is one of five Purdue faculty members announced as winners of the 2026 Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. She was presented with the award during a surprise ceremony, which was conducted recently at the start of one of the classes she teaches in Lynn Hall.
The Charles B. Murphy Award recognizes up to five recipients who are nominated through individual colleges each year as models in excellent undergraduate education. Faculty with the rank of associate or full professor (including associate and full clinical professor ranks) are eligible. The award is accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize and induction into Purdue’s Teaching Academy. Murphy was a history professor at Purdue from 1927 to 1970.
Dr. Anderson earned both her bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and her associate’s degree in veterinary technology at Purdue – the latter in 2003, after which she worked in private practice and then served as chief instructional technologist in the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital for 11 years. She then went back to school at Purdue to make a career switch to pharmacy, earning her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2018, and also completing the one-year Wasson Veterinary Pharmacy Residency program. She joined the Basic Medical Sciences Department faculty in 2019 and then was named assistant dean for the Purdue Veterinary Technology Program in 2025. She also received a significant honor as a new Diplomate of the International College of Veterinary Pharmacy.
Dr. Anderson’s role as associate professor of basic medical sciences involves delivering high-quality pharmacology education to second- and third-year veterinary technology students and second-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students. In addition, as assistant dean, she provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for a team of nearly 30 personnel including instructors, administrative assistants and academic advisors as they support over 1,000 distance learning and 140 on campus veterinary technology students. She focuses on ensuring academic excellence, student success and program growth through collaborative leadership and educational initiatives.
Dr. Anderson’s teaching responsibilities include coordination and delivery of four required courses – two for undergraduate veterinary technology students and two for Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students. In addition, she facilitates small group discussions on antimicrobial selection and resistance during the Diagnostic Medicine clinical year rotation for DVM students every three weeks and oversees the Veterinary Pharmacy elective taught by the veterinary pharmacy resident within the College of Pharmacy each Spring semester. Collectively, Dr. Anderson provides an average of 140 teaching hours annually in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Students praise Dr. Anderson as a wonderful instructor who really cares about her students and their learning; takes the time to reach out to her students and explain information in a way that is understandable; and is enthusiastic and effective as an instructor.
Dr. Anderson was joined at the ceremony by colleagues on the college’s faculty and staff in addition to students and her four faithful animal companions: Cheeto the cat, Charley Ann the Corgi, Sadie the aussiedoodle, and Lucy the ever affable and gentle Golden Retriever.
Dr. Anderson says that as a graduate of the Purdue Veterinary Technology program, she knows firsthand about both the opportunities and the challenges of the profession. “I have a unique perspective, not only because I have gone through this program, but also because I have worked in our teaching hospital and have taught both on-campus and online for our veterinary technology program,” she said. “In my role today I value most the opportunity to give back to the profession at the college that has molded me into the person I am today.”
Dr. Anderson says, looking to the future, she wants to leverage her experiences as both a student and an instructor, as well as her strong connections with the Purdue Veterinary Medicine team, to help advance the education and training of future veterinary technicians. “With demand for technicians at an all-time high and nearly 250 accredited programs across the country, I am excited about the opportunity to support didactic and clinical instructors in developing innovative approaches to teaching. My goal is to ensure that we are preparing veterinary technicians who are practice-ready, confident in their skills, successful on their national exam, and proud of the institution where they received their education and training.”
The Murphy Award is granted annually in the spring semester. This year marks the first time that a Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty member has received the award since 2008, when Dr. Robert “Pete” Bill, then professor of veterinary pharmacology and now professor emeritus, was honored as a Murphy Award recipient.
Each college receives the criteria and call for nominations every fall and each college is responsible for advancing nominees. Faculty interested in applying for the award should contact their department head and/or college award committee.
The other 2026 Purdue Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award recipients are: Abrar Hammoud, associate professor of practice in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute; David Nolte, Edward M. Purcell Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Science; Jon Rienstra-Kiracofe, professor of practice in the College of Science; and Michael Zoltowski, Thomas J. and Wendy Engibous Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and associate head of mentorship and recognition in the College of Engineering.
