{"id":24027,"date":"2024-07-19T12:32:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T16:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=24027"},"modified":"2024-07-30T11:44:36","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T15:44:36","slug":"purdue-dignitaries-join-pvm-faculty-staff-students-and-alumni-at-reception-honoring-dr-willie-reed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/purdue-dignitaries-join-pvm-faculty-staff-students-and-alumni-at-reception-honoring-dr-willie-reed.php","title":{"rendered":"Purdue Dignitaries Join PVM Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni at Reception Honoring Dr. Willie Reed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Faculty,
Faculty, staff, students and Purdue colleagues from across campus gathered in the Veterinary Medical Library to applaud Dean Willie Reed at a reception in his honor June 27.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Veterinary Medical Library in Lynn Hall provided the setting for a crowded reception held at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in honor of Dr. Willie Reed at the conclusion of his long tenure as dean. The event on Thursday, June 27, attracted a throng of well-wishers, including Purdue administrators, faculty, staff, students and Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reception was co-hosted by Dr. Kathy Salisbury, associate dean for academic affairs and the newly named interim dean of the college, and Lee Ann Happ, a long-time staff member who has served under multiple deans and currently holds the position of PVM principal operations administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Reception
Reception co-host and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kathy Salisbury, looks on as Dr. Craig Wardrip, an alumnus in the DVM Class of 1978, commends Willie and Dorothy Reed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a very bittersweet day as we send off our Dean to enjoy the next phase of his career,\u201d Dr. Salisbury said as she began the reception program. She and Lee Ann then shared highlights of the long list of accomplishments achieved during the dean\u2019s 17-and-a-half years of service.

\u201cWillie\u2019s goal was to leave the College in a better condition than it was in when he arrived,\u201d Lee Ann said. \u201cIt is clear he has done that and so much more. Willie Reed has left a lasting legacy on this College that will not be forgotten. Thank you, Willie, for 17\u00bd years of absolute excellence!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Salisbury then invited reception guests who wanted to share their thoughts and stories about the dean to do so and many attendees took advantage of the opportunity, including professors emeriti, faculty, staff, alumni and Provost Emeritus and former Purdue Agriculture Dean Jay Akridge, who served in both capacities during Dr. Reed\u2019s service as College of Veterinary Medicine dean. Dr. Akridge recalled how as provost, he recognized that Dean Reed faithfully attended every event, whether it was celebrating faculty, staff or students, \u201c\u2026because he cared about our students and our faculty and staff, and I think that was another important characteristic. He is just a consummate professional.\u201d

Also on hand were Drs. Sue and Craig Wardrip, who both are members of the DVM Class of 1978. \u201cAnd I want to say that Willie and Dorothy have provided the face of veterinary medicine for this college very effectively for a very long time and we\u2019re proud to have had him here as our leader.\u201d

Following the remarks from guests, Dr. Salisbury turned toward a large veiled object by the podium and explained that the creation of a portrait is a long-standing tradition of the College of Veterinary Medicine when a dean steps down. \u201cYou can find portraits of the College\u2019s first five deans hanging right here in the library. What you are about to see now will join them,\u201d Dr. Salisbury said. She then explained how PVM Professor Emeritus David Williams, a medical illustrator, had reached out to an artist named Patrick Earl Hammie, Professor of Studio Art at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to see if he would be interested in painting a portrait of Dean Reed.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dean
Dean Reed acknowledges the beautiful artistry of Patrick Earl Hammie, who painted the dean\u2019s portrait, and helped unveil it at the reception.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cProf. Williams had seen some of Patrick\u2019s paintings exhibited here on campus some years ago and really admired his work. Patrick replied that he would be honored and agreed to create an oil on linen painted portrait of Willie, which we will be installing here in the library later this summer,\u201d Dr. Salisbury said. Patrick and his wife, Jess, were at the reception and after Dr. Sailsbury introduced them, she invited Patrick, to speak.

\u201cThis has been such a joy and a pleasure and an honor to hear some of the stories that you all shared and the tears and the feelings that have come out,\u201d Patrick shared. He then asked, \u201cHow do you capture an essence in an image? How do you wrap some of these stories, these histories\u2026in a moment that we can celebrate and continue to live with long after?\u201d Patrick went on to explain, \u201dThose are some of the questions I had, that its so good to hear echoed and reaffirmed today, because when I met Dean Reed for the first time, now two years ago, and we had a great sit down with him and Dorothy and David Williams, that warmth came through. Without knowing all of this history, I could feel it in his presence, in his thoughtfulness, in his earnestness as he shared some of his stories with me.\u201d Patrick concluded by saying, \u201cI kept that with me as I moved beyond our time together into painting this portrait that I hope will continue to carry some of those stories forward for you all and the community to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"In
In particular, Dean Reed acknowledged his beloved wife and teammate, Dorothy, who was a consistent co-representative of the college at innumerable college and university receptions and events.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Then Dean Reed joined Patrick and together, they unveiled the portrait, resulting in a hearty round of applause. Next, in a twist of custom, in contrast to retirement ceremonies when Dean Reed read a letter from the Provost announcing that a retiring faculty member had received the designation of professor emeritus, this time Lee Ann read aloud the letter from the Provost announcing that the Purdue Board of Trustees had approved Dr. Reed\u2019s designation as Dean Emeritus.

Dean Reed also was presented with a commemorative recognition gift featuring the image of the Continuum Sculpture engraved on glass, before he was given the opportunity to make closing remarks. \u201cI don\u2019t know where to start. What a wonderful day,\u201d Dean Reed said. \u201cI will always carry this memory, always. Thank all of you for coming today. It means so much to me that you would be here, and I thank all of you who made wonderful comments. I\u2019m a little embarrassed standing here now after listening to all that, but you\u2019ve given me something that I will hold forever. So thank you so very much.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dean
Dean Reed displays the recognition gift he received from the college as he is joined by reception co-host and PVM Principal Operations Administrator Lee Ann Happ for a photo op.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As Dean Reed recalled the first time he came to Purdue, while traveling from Alabama through Indiana to a summer job in Michigan in 1977, he emphasized a key theme that knitted together the multiple decisions he made over the years that kept him at Purdue. That summer a pathologist at the company where he was working told him that Purdue would be the greatest place to study pathology. \u201cAnd he came down here with me and introduced me to people and I met some very wonderful people,\u201d Dean Reed said as he remembered that visit to Purdue. \u201cAnd I went back and finished my fourth year of veterinary school, and applied to a number of programs and chose Purdue and I tell the story all the time, why did I choose Purdue? It was because of the people \u2013 the way they treated me that very first day.\u201d

Dean Reed then explained how later, when he finished his advanced degree program at the College of Veterinary Medicine, and decided he wanted to stay in academia, he was asked to consider an open position at the college, and he applied and was offered the position. \u201cAnd why did I take the job? Because of the people.\u201d Eight years later, he left for a great opportunity at Michigan State University, but then, \u201cI came back and it was because of the people,\u201d Dean Reed said. He added that he stayed 17-and-a-half years, even though he had many opportunities to look at jobs and potentially leave, and again, it was because of the people.

And that\u2019s a message that surprised none of the guests but is loved by all of them. Congratulations Dean Reed!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Reception
Reception guests included former dean of Purdue Agriculture and Purdue Provost Emeritus Jay Akridge, who congratulated Dean Reed as a friend and colleague.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Students
Students who attended the reception included Ramon Roberts, of the DVM Class of 2027, who brought a card on behalf of his classmates. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Veterinary Medical Library in Lynn Hall provided the setting for a crowded reception held at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in honor of Dr. Willie Reed at the conclusion of his long tenure as dean. The event on Thursday, June 27, attracted a throng of well-wishers, including Purdue administrators, faculty, staff, students and Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,41,17,29,42],"tags":[1790,2143,56,25],"class_list":["post-24027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-faculty-staff","category-in-the-news","category-our-people","category-students","tag-celebration","tag-dean-reed","tag-homepage","tag-top-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24027"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24499,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24027\/revisions\/24499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}