Consultant
Office of Minor Use & Minor Species Animal Drug Development

1. Why did you become a veterinarian?

I always wanted to be a biologist working to benefit animal health in some way and a year of graduate school in molecular biology at the University of Miami convinced me that I wanted to deal with whole animals, not just their molecules, so I transferred to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

2. What made you want to work for CVM?

I knew that I did not want to enter clinical practice or work for the pharmaceutical industry. And CVM appeared to be the place where I could have the greatest positive impact on the greatest number of animals.

3. What is the best thing about being a veterinarian for CVM?

It turned out that I was something of a regulator at heart as well as a decent writer, so writing policies and regulations (and, in at least one case, laws) in the interest of animal health was a perfect fit for me.

4. What does the veterinary profession mean to you?

It means doing my best every day to enhance the health and welfare of as many species of animals in the U.S. as I can.

5. What is your most memorable moment as a veterinarian?

The wonderful day in August 2004 when the President of the United States, George W. Bush, culminated an almost 20-year effort on my part (as well as many others) to benefit minor species by signing into law the Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act. (Followed closely by the day that CVM’s director chose me to establish, and become the director of, the new Office of Minor Use & Minor Species Animal Drug Development, called OMUMS.) That I love working in OMUMS is further attested to by the fact that I am still doing so at the age of 74, 11 years after technically retiring.