Awards

Two professors in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Population Health & Reproduction recently won awards recognizing outstanding achievements in their work with avian diseases. The recipients received their awards at the 2025 American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP) Annual Meeting, held this summer in Portland.

The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) recently acknowledged the dedication and hard work of its staff members with the annual VMTH Staff Excellence Awards.

The VMTH Staff Excellence Awards are divided into these categories:

• Leadership/Staff Excellence
• Small Animal Hospital
• Large Animal Hospital
• Laboratory/Pathology/Pharmacy/Central Services/Diagnostic Imaging
• Supervisor
• Administrative/Client Services
• Unsung Hero

The 2025 VMTH Staff Excellence Awards winners are:

View the campaign overview PDF.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s 75th anniversary communications campaign received “Grand Gold”—the highest honor—in the 2025 Circle of Excellence Awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. 
 

Five faculty members have been selected for a 2025 Chancellor’s Fellowship recognizing their work to, in the words of the organizers, “foster a learning environment where all students can develop the skills to be successful.”

Among them was Dr. Luis M. Peña-Lévano of the School of Veterinary Medicine. The assistant professor of Cooperative Extension was recognized for his outstanding expertise in the field of agricultural economics.

Resident researchers were recognized and applauded at the American College of Internal Veterinary Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in Louisville, Kentucky, during an awards luncheon on June 20, 2025. The special event was sponsored by Purina Institute with many of the winners in attendance. The winning abstracts were among the research presented to ACVIM Forum attendees throughout the conference.

Among those selected from UC Davis are:

Dr. Douglas Mader, Class of 1986, was recently honored with the UC Davis Lifetime Achievement Award. Mader is a triple board-certified veterinary specialist [(DABVP (C/F, R/A), DECZM (Herpetology)] and has been a practicing veterinarian for nearly four decades. He is an internationally recognized expert and lecturer in exotic animal medicine and has written three medical textbooks, numerous book chapters and dozens of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

May 8, 2025—Dr. Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, a pioneer in shelter veterinary medicine, is the 2025 winner of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Welfare Award, the association announced today.

On March 14, 2025, the UC Davis veterinary hospital hosted the 46th annual Gerald V. Ling Veterinary Intern and Resident Research Symposium (VIRRS). The day-long event featured short presentations of research findings from house officers (residents, fellows, interns) to fellow house officers, faculty, staff, students, and guests.

Dr. Nicola Pusterla recently won the Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Advancement in Equine Research Award, given at the American Association of Equine Practitioners annual meeting.

The Boehringer Advancement in Equine Research Award was launched in 2011 to support veterinary research that results in practical applications for insights into important equine infectious and noninfectious diseases.

Dr. Joan Dean Rowe recently won the George McConnell Award, given at the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners (AASRP) annual meeting.

The award recognizes a small ruminant practitioner who has given extraordinary service to both AASRP and small ruminant practice.

Dr. Rowe is a professor emeritus of population health and reproduction and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She is a past president of the AASRP and has held several leadership positions within the dairy goat industry.