Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni reconnected at the Purdue Alumni and Friends Reception, which was held during the 2024 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention. Nearly 50 guests attended the event in Austin, Texas, on Friday, June 21, taking advantage of the opportunity to visit with colleagues and PVM faculty and staff. Dean Willie Reed greeted the attendees and spoke with a sense of nostalgia as he announced that he would step down as dean at the end of June.
The Dean also announced that Dr. Kathy Salisbury, associate dean for academic affairs, would take over as interim dean. Her appointment was ratified by the Purdue Board of Trustees on June 7. The Dean went on to share other outcomes from the trustees’ meeting including the trustees’ decision to recognize him by renaming the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory as the Willie M. Reed Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.
Dean Reed thanked audience members for embracing and supporting the teamwork that undergirded the accomplishments that the college achieved throughout his service as dean. Dr. Reed also acknowledged the role of the college’s alumni in creating a true family atmosphere that he and his wife Dorothy enjoyed during the 25 years they spent at Purdue from the time Dr. Reed began his PhD education through the years he served as dean.
In concluding his remarks, Dean Reed quoted a prominent role model in his life, Dr. Booker T. Washington, founder and first president of Tuskegee University, who said, “Success is measured not so much by the positions that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles that he has overcome while trying to succeed.” In relaying that quote, Dean Reed shared his own thankfulness for the people who have encouraged and mentored him throughout his life.
