curriculum vitae - School of Veterinary Medicine - Louisiana State ...

ADMINISTRATIVE PHILOSOPHY, EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTSProfessional Background and PhilosophyAcademic life has always been my primary professional interest. The University ofTexas-Austin facilitated my liberal arts education through a special honors program. Afterveterinary school and 2 years in private practice, I completed a dual NIH program ofLaboratory Animal Medicine Residency and PhD in Comparative Pathology (human,veterinary, and plant pathology) at the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC).While on the faculty at UMC, I served as a surgical pathologist, taught veterinarypathology and laboratory animal medicine, and studied several animal models of metabolicand infectious diseases. A NIH Research Career Development Award (SERCA) allowed me tostudy with Dr. Oscar Ratnoff at Case Western Reserve University, commuting to CWR for oneweek of most months for 4 years. Dr. Ratnoff, a member of the National Academy ofMedicine, was instrumental in my developing bench skills in protein and lipid biochemistry.When gene ablation in mice was developed in the 1980’s, I moved to University ofCincinnati Medical School to learn this technology and to participate in a more rigorousresearch setting. I taught pathology to the medical students and my service was in laboratoryanimal pathology. A major collaboration was with one of the first “gene targeters”, TomDoetschman, from whom I learned transgene technology while collaborating as a pathologist. Iparticipated in several NIH Cores and Center grants, as Director of the Division ofComparative Pathology in the Department of Pathology. My NIH RO1-funded researchinvestigated the immunopathology and protein biochemistry of Hageman factor, while movinginto lipid metabolism.I was asked to apply for Head of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University byDean John Shadduck. The growth, evolution, and potential at A&M intrigued me, particularlyto bring a comparative medicine aspect back to a veterinary school. Veterinarians have somuch to offer to systems biology, from transgenesis to nanotechnology, as well as medicine forthe animals’ sake. The most logical place for comparative medicine may be in a veterinaryschool, where we are accustomed to understanding differences among many species.Having grown up in rural Texas, I was also interested in learning and interacting withthe large food animal commodity industries in Texas, USDA/APHIS interactions with ourfaculty, and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, of which the Department of VeterinaryPathobiology is a component.Facilitating faculty, student, and staff development and faculty recruitment has been themost rewarding part of my position. While most of my time was devoted to leading adepartment that grew from 45 to approximately 60 faculty, 70 graduate students, and 100 staff,I still enjoyed teaching, particularly laboratory animal pathology and diseases. My research hasmoved into gene targeting and metabolic phenotyping of a family of intracellular lipid bindingproteins involved in lipid metabolism in collaboration with Dr. Fred Schroeder, a lipidmembrane biochemist and biophysicist.The core of my administrative philosophy has been to facilitate a strong culture ofexcellence in teaching and clinical service while supporting rigor and growth in research. It isa challenging balance to facilitate teaching and service while promoting strong research. InTexas, the interplay among state taxpayers, student tuition and debt load, and the statelegislature must have constant attention for balance. After 12 years as department Head, I2