Vet Cetera magazine 2015

2014 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Distinguished Alumni Award
DR. ROBERT BAHR
DR. MARY BALLENGER
DR. HARRY JAMES
Robert Bahr, DVM, DACVR, of Stillwater
earned his DVM degree from OSU in 1970
and was nominated for the award by classmate
Dr. Billy Clay.
After graduation, Bahr joined a small animal
practice in St. Petersburg, Fla., for a year before
joining the Air Force, where he was involved
with zoonotic disease control, the small animal
out-patient clinic, and monitoring public
health and food sanitation.
Bahr served a yearlong internship in radiology
at Kansas State University, followed by a
radiology residency at the University of California,
Davis. In 1976, he became a Diplomate
of the American College of Veterinary Radiology.
After more private practice experience and
teaching at the University of Missouri, Bahr
joined the faculty at OSU’s veterinary center in
1984 to teach veterinary radiology and retired
in June 2014.
He is a member of the American Veterinary
Medical Association and the Oklahoma Veterinary
Medical Association, which honored him
with its Practitioner to Faculty Award in 2011.
Mary Ballenger, DVM, of Tulsa and Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia, earned her DVM degree from
OSU in 1981 and was nominated for the award
by classmate Dr. Genie Bishop.
“Dr. Ballenger loved mission work and was
constantly being mentored by a great missionary,
the late Dr. Keith Flanagan (OSU CVM ’78),”
says Bishop, noting Ballenger’s service on the
Oklahoma Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
and numerous Oklahoma Veterinary Medical
Association committees and as secretary
for OSU’s Veterinary Medicine Alumni Society.
Dr. Ballenger and her husband, Richard,
are missionaries to Mongolia with the Christian
Veterinary Mission. Dr. Ballenger works
as a veterinary continuing education adviser,
creating and managing continuing education
programs. She also supervises Mongolia’s veterinary
drug registration and works closely with
herders to help improve animal and human
health in the country.
Harry James, DVM, of Pond Creek, Okla.,
earned his DVM degree from OSU in 1960. Drs.
James Shmidl and Larry Major nominated him
for this honor on behalf of their entire class.
Following graduation, James opened the
Pond Creek Veterinary Clinic, a mixed animal
practice serving rural northwest Oklahoma.
He continues to treat large animals, while his
daughter, Dr. Stephanie Slaving (OSU CVM
’98), now tends to their small animal patients.
“In my career I have seen diseases such as hog
cholera, brucellosis, tuberculosis, screw worms
and scabies come and go,” he says. “Today’s veterinarian
won’t see them outside of a textbook.”
James is an active member of the American
Veterinary Medical Association, the Oklahoma
Veterinary Medical Association, the American
Association of Bovine Practitioners and the
Academy of Veterinary Consultants. He served
two terms on the board for both the OVMA
and AABP. In 1995, he was named the OVMA
Food Practitioner of the Year, and in 2004, he
received the OVMA President’s Award. The
Oklahoma State Senate designated May 2010
as Harry “Doc” James Month for his 50 years
of veterinary services.
76 Center for Veterinary Health Sciences