Dean’s Message: Spring 2016

Greetings!

Dean James W. Lloyd
Dr. James W. Lloyd

As you read this, 2016 will be well underway, as will a landmark in college life – the celebration of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s 40thAnniversary.  It’s hard to believe, but it really has been 40 years since the Charter Class of University of Florida veterinary medical students, who graduated in 1980, entered our hallways for the first time. So much has happened since then and we have much to be proud of.

This past January, the college held a 40th Anniversary Kick-off party for faculty, residents, staff and students, on-site at the CVM in the Banfield Room of our world-class Small Animal Hospital. This was an opportunity to bring our internal college family together for to mix, mingle and share memories as we welcomed 2016 with a bang and embarked on our celebration.

Later that month, the festivities continued in Orlando at our traditional North American Veterinary Conference alumni reception. Members of the Charter Class joined emeritus faculty, other alumni and friends of the college to mark this special occasion. The event was a huge success, with record attendance and special moments, such as Charter Class members cutting a 40thAnniversary cake. We also recognized the more than a dozen emeritus faculty members who were able to attend the event.

Photos from both events were posted to our college Facebook page and some appear here in this newly redesigned issue of the magazine, launched appropriately in tandem with our Anniversary. We hope you enjoy our new look.

Please bookmark our website, www.vetmed.ufl.edu, which will contain updates on our 40th Anniversary events and activities as the year unfolds. We have so many stories to tell about the people and programs that have contributed to the college’s identity and have helped to make us the great institution we are today with our joint missions of providing world class education, innovative research and state-of-the-art clinical services.

A few months ago, we solicited your feedback to gather ideas and specific examples of CVM people and programs that have impacted the world. The response was eye-opening. It’s truly amazing to be reminded how wide-ranging these impacts have been and the scope of influence the UF College of Veterinary Medicine has amassed already in its relatively short lifetime.

Whether you are a graduate of our professional D.V.M. program or our graduate studies program, a current or former faculty or staff member, a referring veterinarian, donor or other friend of the college, please take a few moments to reflect in the coming year about the ways in which your College of Veterinary Medicine has grown in its 40-year existence and consider the ways in which its impacts have made the world a better place for both animals and people.

It is truly a time of growth, hope, energy and enthusiasm at the UFCVM. So many of you have had key roles in our successes to date, and we look forward to your ongoing, active engagement as we continue to create the future of veterinary medicine, together.

 

Archives of previous Dean’s Messages can be found here.