Douglas Mader (M.S., 1982; D.V.M., 1986; Residency, Primate/Zoo Animal Medicine, 1988), owner and director of Marathon Veterinary Hospital, a group referral practice in Marathon Key, Florida, is being recognized with the 2009 Alumni Achievement Award for his contributions to the welfare of animals as a teacher, researcher, author and practitioner.

Mader earned the Master of Science degree in animal behavior in 1982, and D.V.M. in 1986; he then completed a residency in primate/zoo animal medicine at UC Davis in 1988. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Canine and Feline Practice) and a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Mader, an expert in herpetological medicine and surgery, established Marathon Veterinary Hospital, a mixed and exotic animal clinical practice, in 1997.  His practice serves the health of animals in the County Zoo, Key West Aquarium, the Dolphin Research Center and Theater of the Sea, and he has volunteered his time as the staff veterinarian at the Marathon Sea Turtle Hospital for the past 15 years. His hospital sponsors four-week preceptorships for senior veterinary students throughout each year, and Mader offers continuing education classes and open-attendance "grand rounds" for employees of veterinary hospitals in the Keys. He gives presentations on amphibian, reptile and wildlife medicine and surgery at professional conferences several times a year.

Mader began carrying out research studies as an undergraduate, and has published 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles, several book chapters and is the author of Reptile Medicine and Surgery, now in its second edition. He contributes veterinary articles on common health problems of captive reptiles and amphibians to magazines such as Reptiles, Veterinary Practice News, Dog Fancy, Wildbird Magazine and Reptiles USA. He has produced educational videotapes such as Discrimination and Learning in Horses, and the NIH Practical Methodology Series, which includes topics such as handling and restraint of reptiles and primates. In 1988 he received the Health Sciences Communications Association Award for instructional media.

Mader was associate clinical professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine 1995–97 and has been adjunct clinical professor for the Department of Medicine of Western University, Pomona, Calif., since 2004. From 1988 to 1997, Mader co-owned Long Beach Animal Hospital, a small animal/exotic hospital with a case load of more than 14,000 patients per year, about half of which were nondomestic animals. He supervised a veterinary student preceptorship program that involved 12 U.S. veterinary schools. At the same time, he was the assistant zoo veterinarian for the Santa Ana Zoo and vivarium veterinarian for Allergan Pharmaceuticals, where he was involved in facility design and research protocol design and review.

Mader is the president-elect of the Board of Directors of the North American Veterinary Conference, and the editorial review boards of the ClinicianÕs Brief, Compendium for Continuing Education, American Journal of Veterinary Research, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and Journal of Reptile Medicine and Surgery.

As a volunteer, Mader cares for indigenous wild animals for nonprofit organizations including Florida Keys Wild Bird Center, Key Deer Protection alliance, Marine Mammal Rescue and the Marathon Sea Turtle Hospital. He presents educational lectures to the general public to increase awareness of animal and environmental issues, and he teaches animal care and responsibility classes for inmates at the Monroe County Sheriff's Animal Farm. He has received the Animal Hero Award from the SPCA, Special Recognition for Community Service from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and was appointed honorary sheriff's deputy of Monroe County, Florida.