University of Pretoria Confers Honorary Doctorate on Veterinary Dentistry Pioneer and Alumnus, Frank Verstraete
Professor Emeritus Frank Verstraete has set the benchmark for innovation and best practice in veterinary science, establishing standards that are now applied worldwide. An alumnus of the University of Pretoria (UP), he is recognized as a scholar whose research, clinical work and teaching laid the foundations for procedures that continue to guide the treatment of animals across species.
For this, the University of Pretoria conferred him with an honorary doctorate in Veterinary Science during the Faculty of Veterinary Science graduation ceremony on September 5, 2025.
“In addition to being an alumnus of the University, Professor Verstraete has been an international leader in the field of veterinary dentistry and developed the field to such an extent that it became recognized as its own specialist field instead of a theme in the field of veterinary surgery,” Professor Vinny Naidoo, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, explained.
“He has also advanced the care of veterinary patients to the extent that clinical conditions that would previously have necessitated euthanasia, can be better managed through routine surgical and medical care.”
Dr. Verstraete began his academic journey in Belgium, where he completed his DrMedVet degree magna cum laude at the State University of Ghent in 1980. He later pursued postgraduate training at the University of Pretoria, earning the BVSc (Hons) and the MMedVet (Chir) in the 1980s, before embarking on an international career that has spanned more than four decades.
At UC Davis, he led the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service and supervised a generation of residents and fellows who themselves have become leaders in the field. He also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Orofacial Sciences, Division of Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology, at the School of Dentistry of the UC San Francisco. His publication record includes more than 180 papers and the landmark textbook Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Dogs and Cats, now in preparation for its third edition.