UC Davis Honors Dr. Bill Vernau with Distinguished Teacher Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bill Vernau (BVMS, DVSc, Ph.D.), recipient of the UC Davis Academic Senate’s 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award - Graduate and Professional Teaching. This award recognizes Vernau for his dynamic, knowledgeable and approachable teaching style.  

Vernau is a professor of Clinical Diagnostic Pathology in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology with both didactic and heavy clinical teaching responsibilities. He is heralded for his strong work ethic and deep caring for veterinary medicine and teaching, which often brings him in to the hospital for consultation on weekends and evenings during his off clinics time. Students, faculty and hospital residents alike value his diagnostic acumen and he consistently receives high accolades in his student evaluations. He is acknowledged nationally and internationally as the “go to” clinical pathologist for lymphoproliferative diseases of companion animals.

Vernau is devoted to student learning, setting clear expectations for his courses and designing learning experiences to facilitate student understanding. He ensures that his case discussions and assessments not only test student knowledge but are also tools to help prepare them for clinical work. He challenges students to be problem solvers and critical thinkers through the careful design of laboratory exercises and classroom lectures. Vernau is also recognized for his reflective and flexible style, encouraging dialogue and feedback from students throughout the course to maximize learning success. His teaching effectiveness is considered by peers to be exceptional. He is also recognized for his contributions to curricular development. Additionally, as a member of the Consortium of West Region Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and the School’s Teaching Academy, he has been active in developing better methods for peer evaluation of teaching.

Vernau joined the faculty in 2000 after receiving his BVMS (1984) from Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, DVSc (1990) from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and Ph.D. (2000) from UC Davis. He became a Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Pathology (Clinical Pathology) in 1991. He is a member of the American College of Veterinary Pathology, the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, and was elected to the Teaching Academy of the Consortium of Western Region Colleges of Veterinary Medicine in 2013.  Vernau was honored with the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award in 2016. He will receive his award at a ceremony scheduled in May.