2013 PVM Report - Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine

At the invitation of Dean Willie Reed, Ed Willard leads a 50th anniversary toast to the
Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.
opened in 1960, in time for the class members’ sophomore year.
The new learning spaces were a welcome sight.
The classes were rigorous – but the Class of ‘63 was up to the
task. “We not only had classes on the five weekdays, but we had
Saturday morning classes as well,” recalls Dr. Willard. Dr. Gilliatt
says the hardest class he remembers was physiologic chemistry
taught by Dr. Skip Jackson.
But what Dr. Willard remembers most, in addition to the
great attitude of the class, were the opportunities they enjoyed
because they were the first students in the School. “We basically
had two clinical years,” explains Dr. Willard. “We were going
through school as the faculty was setting-up the clinics, and so
we started clinical training while we were in our third year. We
were so prepared when we graduated, that word spread within the
profession. It was common for veterinarians in practice to advise
one another, ‘get one of those Purdue guys, they’re really good.’”
Dr. Willard started out in a large animal practice in northern
Indiana, before entering military service in the Air Force.
When he returned from military duty in 1965, he looked at the
economic realities and decided he would take the 50 percent
pay-hike that small animal work in the Chicago area afforded
over large animal practice. His first Chicago-area practice was in
Oak Forest, Ill. He later bought a second practice, the Flossmoor
Animal Hospital in Homewood, Ill, which today is run by his
daughter, Dr. Raechel Willard, who earned her
Purdue DVM degree in 1996. “She’s the smartest
veterinarian I’ve been around,” her dad professes. He
retired in 2010, wrapping up a 45-year career of small
animal practice in the Chicago area.
Dr. Gilliatt started out in private practice in South
Bend, Ind. He remembers his starting salary was
$100 per week, for a job that included plenty of long
hours. In 1965, he moved to a better opportunity
in the St. Louis area, where he still does relief work
today. His career included ten years of critical care
work, and caring for some exotic animals – namely
big cats, including bobcats, a tiger, a cougar and a
leopard. “It was kind of an ego thing,” Dr. Gilliatt
recalls. “I thought I was invincible. It was fun but
dangerous. I don’t do that anymore. I’m not fast
enough,” Dr. Gilliatt says with a chuckle.
Comparing their experiences to those of today’s
students, Drs. Willard and Gilliatt recognize
there are differences, but they don’t discount
the challenges their class faced. “The cost is
much higher, and students carry a lot of debt,”
acknowledges Dr. Gilliatt, who notes that most, if
not all, of his class members were Indiana residents.
Dr. Willard adds, the costs they faced are not
proportionate to today’s tuition and fees. And the
opportunities available after graduation are different.
“We didn’t have all the specialists,” Dr. Willard
observes. Dr. Gilliatt also feels veterinary school
is tougher today because the learning sphere has
expanded so much. Even so, he says, for his class,
“It was still a struggle, academically and financially,”
and he worked on the side while he was in school.
Dr. Willard’s advice for those following in his
footsteps is, “Don’t stop learning.” Dr. Willard used
national conventions, like the annual meetings of
the American Veterinary Medical Association and
the American Animal Hospital Association, as opportunities to
combine work and pleasure, by planning vacations around the
meeting dates. “Graduates should realize, these conferences are a
great time to socialize and learn and see the country.”
Since their graduation 50 years ago, most of the class members
have stayed in touch and attended class reunions at five year
intervals. Typically, those reunions were hosted by Dr. Willard
at his lake home on Lake Schafer in Monticello, Ind. Dr. Willard
put in the work to get his classmates there, sending mailings and
following-up with phone calls. Nearly 80 percent of the class
showed-up for the silver anniversary in 1988. “Dr. Willard has
been good about hosting reunion parties,” says Dr. Gilliatt. “A
couple of class members never showed-up but everyone else
remained fairly close.”
When the College celebrated its own 50th anniversary in 2009,
members of the Class of 1963 turned out in force to recognize the
milestone, a tribute to the strength of the enduring friendships
forged in the crucible of veterinary school, with the help of ample
doses of laughter, good times, and lunches shared around games
of Euchre. This year, it’s their turn in the spotlight, as the 31 living
members of Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s first class celebrate yet
another first on the occasion of their 50th class reunion – proof
that they are indeed, “as good as gold.”
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