SUPER BOSS
Dr. Willie M. Reed
Dean Emeritus, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine | BS 1976, Tuskegee Institute | DVM 1978, Tuskegee Institute | PhD 1982, Purdue University | Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Pathologists| Diplomate, American College of Poultry VeterinariansVetaHumanz Live! Podcast
Dr. Reed was featured in Episode 4 of the VetaHumanz Live! Podcast. Listen now.
My Story
I chose the veterinary profession because of my love for animals, my love for science, and my love for medicine- but I did not want to pursue human medicine.
My Struggles
The struggles were trying to navigate the admissions process and trying to determine my options. During my era, as an African American, getting into a veterinary school was going to be challenging because that was not a clear option for me. It was much harder to get admitted into a college of veterinary medicine in those days because of the few number of vet schools and the fact that most schools didn’t take nonresidents. At the time, only one vet school in my state had ever accepted an African American. Knowing I only had one option- getting into that one veterinary school- Tuskegee.
My Heroes
My parents and my grandmothers. They were some of the hardest working people that I’ve seen. They were very supportive of me and so encouraging. Never putting any doubt in me that I couldn’t achieve what I wanted to achieve. In high school, I had a vocational agricultural teacher who encouraged me and also had me believe that I could do anything that I wanted to do. He gave me opportunities. He kept encouraging me and placed a lot of confidence in me.
My Typical Day
A typical day for me is filled with meetings-meetings with department heads, associate deans, with the Provost. My typical day is addressing issues and problems and helping people navigate their issues and helping them meet their needs.
My Stressors
Knowing all the things that need to be accomplished. Knowing that you can’t accomplish them all at one time. Being patient. The amount of hours that are needed to do the job is very stressful. The way I handle it is I like to exercise. Going to the gym helps me relieve the stress and gives me time to get away from it all for a little bit.
My Why
Veterinary medicine is such a diverse field. When I was a pathologist working in a diagnostic lab I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to solve a lot of medical problems for people. I could diagnose things in herds or flocks and then that would end up sometimes saving people’s livelihood because I was helping them to control diseases. Also, I was able to identify zoonotic diseases working with public health people and that would impact positively human health as well. That was a lot of fun, working with infectious diseases and working with people in different areas, public health officials, CDC, USDA, and departments of agriculture in states.