Are There More Creative Options for Diversifying Academic Leadership?

Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

With Julie Kumble

During a presentation on Women’s Leadership at the AAVMC meeting last week, we confronted the issue of the slow increase in appointments of women to professorial and senior academic leadership positions over the past three decades despite vigorous affirmative action policies in the academy. “Can we learn some lessons from the successful increase in women’s leadership in places like the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association (IVMA),” we asked, “or are we going to continue the glacial pace of improvement that characterizes many of our universities?”

As we reported in a posting here last year, the IVMA, led by Dr. Tom Johnson, didn’t just increase the depth of the candidate pool and help people understand and support a broader understanding of gender diversity, they also fostered institutional change. By modifying the very basic parameters of office-holding, they increased the pace of change.(1) “Our leadership profile didn’t just happen,” Johnson told us during our 2013 interview.

Instead, they used a multi-pronged approach. One was familiar to all of us, and involved developing leadership training opportunities for the target audience of women and new graduates. The other initiative was bolder: they made substantive institutional changes in the association. 

Of the several structural changes they instituted, we mention just two. One was to institute term limits, thereby opening up opportunities for more people to have a chance at leadership. Second, they confronted the prevailing dogma that leadership required progressively more challenging appointments, moving sequentially up the ladder one rung at a time to attain the necessary qualifications through experience, rather than a combination of experience AND creative mentoring PLUS targeted educational opportunities.

How has veterinary academia fared in the thirty-plus years since we have seen over 50% women enter our US colleges? In the last five years (2010-2015), the increase in tenure track professorial positions at all levels has only changed from 32% to 34%. The increase in faculty administrators, from 25% to just 34%. The percentage of women in all faculty positions in our 30 colleges ranges from 15% to 49%. Clearly, not what any of us wants.

Is it time to consider a bolder approach?

How about the following:

Ø  Term limits for deans, associate and assistant deans, department chairs and directors: four- or five-year terms, renewable no more than once. In addition to ensuring more frequent turnover of people in the most senior administrative offices, it would also allow colleges to prepare two or three years in advance of the appointment, rather than just months in advance. Though most dean searches are conducted over 12-14 months, the actual period of inviting people to become candidates is often a mere four months.(2) By extending opportunities for inquiry, recruitment and extended visits to one year or longer, the potential for active consideration of inspiring candidates could increase exponentially.

Ø  What about changing these job descriptions to accommodate greater flexibility for high quality candidates with diverse portfolios? Do all deans need to be internationally-recognized research scholars? Perhaps we need a less constrained concept of scholarship, one that reflects the future needs of society rather than the traditional needs of the academy. Do all deans need to be expert fundraisers, constantly on the move from meetings a mile away with vice presidents for development, to meetings a continent away with potential donors? Do we ever really assess the investment of international travel on time away from our offices and our families? Do deans really need to spend four hours a week in face-to-face meetings with provosts and vice presidents? Is it time to say “no” to the unending reports that keep deans from the important work of meeting with students and faculty, and from their children? Accountability is important, but so is trust and a lighter hand on university centralization. Is it time for deans to return to becoming academic leaders more, and managers of centralized university units less?

“Can’t be done,” some would argue, “because of federal and state regulations, the tightening university grip, and a myriad of other challenges.” Perhaps. But with an added measure of creativity, open minds, and our collective ability to problem solve, we might be able to make the type of progress that our colleagues in organized veterinary medicine have already been able to accomplish.

And by doing so, we could really increase the richness and diversity of the potential applicant pool. Now, THAT would be affirmative action, and perhaps the graphs would more accurately reflect the face of veterinary medicine in 2020.

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(1) Smith, Donald F. and Julie Kumble. Veterinary Leadership in Iowa. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine, December 12, 2013.

(2) The additional time is spent for provost to meet with stakeholders, for the search committee to be established, and for the position description to be written and advertised. Following the assembly of a cohort of applicants, the final several months are devoted to interviews, selection, and negotiation.

Oregon State Appoints Dr. Susan Tornquist as Dean

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Oregon State’s College of Veterinary Medicine has had as many deans in its forty-year history as some veterinary colleges that are twice as old. When Dean Cyril Clarke left the university in fall 2013, (1) Dr. Susan Tornquist was appointed interim dean, the third time that designation had used in  an interregnum period. Some naturally wondered if she would break the college's practice of appointing someone other than the interim designee and be granted a regular term.

That is exactly what happened on March 6^th, when Tornquist was announced as the new dean of the college. A professor of clinical pathology, she told me she really had to weigh the decision carefully because she is so committed to teaching and diagnostics in her specialty field. “I really love looking at those exciting cells,” she said with a laugh. However, Dean Tornquist is also excited at the opportunity to continue some of the administrative initiatives she started during the last 18 months, while serving in the interim position. (2)

Dean Susan Tornquist, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl ACVP

Photo provided by Dean Tornquist

Dean Tornquist becomes the first woman dean at the college, and the eighth woman to serve as dean of a US veterinary college. (3)  Holding DVM and PhD degrees from Colorado State and Washington State universities, respectively, Dr. Tornquist had private clinical practice and state diagnostic services experiences, and a clinical pathology residency at Washington State, before joining Oregon State University in 1996.  Before being appointed interim dean, she had been serving as associate dean for student and academic affairs.

Though she does not consider her gender to be a critical factor in her work as senior administrator of the college, she does welcome the opportunity to be a positive role model for the DVM student body that is over 80% female. “I have benefited so much from excellent role models and colleagues throughout my career,” said Dean Tornquist, “and I really hope to be able to pay that forward in this new position.” (4)  She also appreciates the encouragement she received from the other women veterinary college deans during the last 18 months.

Dr. Joan C. Hendricks, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine elaborated on that support. (5)

When the deans met in Naples for their annual meeting in January, we (senior) female deans were delighted to meet two interim female deans, Susan Tornquist and Ruby Perry (Tuskegee).  It turned out BOTH had been approached to be candidates for dean and we all encouraged them BOTH to indeed throw their (metaphorical) hats in the ring.  It was very reminiscent, for me, of my own reluctant entry into the candidacy at Penn Vet.  Here I was, decrying the lack of female leadership and demurring when told I should be a candidate.  We all said--DO IT!  So they did and delightfully, Susan is now one of 8 female Deans in North America! (6) 

After Dr. Tornquist’s announcement was announced, Dr. Eleanor Green, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University was similarly pleased. (7)

 It was easy to encourage a successful professional like Dr. Tornquist to consider the position of dean and we are all proud she accepted the offer.  She had the good fortune to "try it on" as interim, so she had a good feel for the position.  My consistent message to those considering such a position, or any position, is whether they want the job, not the title, the promotion, or the honor, but the job itself.  Is this what they want to do every day with enthusiasm and energy? We are glad she thought she would. I really look forward to working with her in the deans' group.

Dr. Karen Bradley, who co-owns a small animal veterinary practice in Vermont and is president of the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative, expressed her excitement, “This is just wonderful about Dean Tornquist,” she texted me.  “Just last Friday, I was thinking about some of the women deans who might be completing their terms in the next few years, and wondering who their successors might be. This renews my hope.”(5)

Mine, too.

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(1) Dr. Clarke left Oregon State to became dean at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

(2) Tornquist, Susan. Personal communication with Donald F. Smith, Cornell University, AAVMC meeting, Washington DC, March 15, 2015. 

(3) Six other women currently serve as dean, plus one as interim dean.

(4) Tornquist, Susan (Oregon State University), email to Donald F. Smith (Cornell University), March 17, 2015.

(5) Hendricks, Joan C (University of Pennsylvania), email to Donald F. Smith (Cornell University), March 18, 2015.

(6) Dean Hendricks includes in her tally, Dean Elizabeth Stone at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada).

(7) Green, Eleanor M (Texas A&M University), email to Donald F. Smith (Cornell University), March 19, 2015.
(8) Bradley, Karen, DVM, small animal practitioner in East Montpelier, Vermont. Text message to Donald F. Smith, Cornell University, March 16, 2015.  

Five Tuskegee University Veterinary Graduates from the 1970s Become Deans

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University
January 15, 2015

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day

Patterns of leadership in veterinary medicine fascinate me.  Why, for example, are there so many foreign-educated veterinary deans and department chairs in our country’s veterinary colleges? (1,2) Why are there so few women deans? (3)

Now, a question that I’ve also pondered for some time: why have so many Tuskegee DVM graduates from the 1970s attained dean positions? There have been fewer than 100 permanent dean appointments in the AAVMC-member US veterinary colleges in the last three decades, yet five who graduated during the 1970s are Tuskegee graduates. All are African-American.

"Lifting the Veil"
Statue of Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee University
Photo by the author, 2012

During African American History Month in February, I shall share with readers some of the responses I received from these deans about what inspired them to achieve such distinction.

But first, who are these five leaders? 

Alfonza Atkinson served as the fifth veterinary dean at Tuskegee University from 1999 until his untimely passing in 2004. Also an undergraduate at Tusksegee, Dr. Atkinson received his DVM in 1973. He was subsequently awarded a MPH (1988) and a PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Environmental Health Science-Environmental Toxicology Program (1995).  Dr. Atkinson was a commissioned veterinarian at the Birmingham (Alabama) Racing Commission, and also a supervisory veterinary medical officer in the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service in Tallahassee, Florida. He returned to Tuskegee as a member of the faculty in the departments of Microbiology and Biomedical Sciences. He was associate dean for administration and interim dean before being appointed dean of the college.

Michael Blackwell, the son of a graduate of Tuskegee's second DVM class, was appointed dean at the University of Tennessee in 2000. He was the first African-American dean of a majority veterinary college. Dr. Blackwell operated a private veterinary practice following graduation in 1975. He then entered public service, working for the FDA for 20 years in both human and veterinary branches, and rising to the position of deputy director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine.  In 1994 he was appointed chief veterinarian of the U.S. Public Health Service, and in 1997 promoted to the rank of Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral) of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Blackwell was appointed chief of staff of the Office of the Surgeon General in 1999. From there, he moved to Knoxville and served as dean for more than several years.  Dr. Blackwell, who also holds the MPH degree, is now Senior Director of Veterinary Policy for the Humane Society of the United States.

Phillip Nelson received his undergraduate degree from Jackson State University where his father, a Tuskegee graduate with a degree in Food Service Administration, was Assistant Vice President for Business Affairs. After earning his DVM from Tuskegee in 1979, he developed his clinical skills in internal medicine at Mississippi State University, and later pursued a PhD in immunology and biotechnology at North Carolina State University.  His research activities primarily focused on feline infections as biological models for human HIV, and the development of lymphocytic immunity in the dog and cat. Dr. Nelson returned to Tuskegee as head of the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, then in 1994 moved back to Mississippi State as associate dean, a position he held for over a decade. He then moved to Western University of the Health Sciences in Pomona, California and became Executive Associate Dean of the Pre-clinical Curriculum. Two years later, in 2007, he succeeded Dr. Shirley Johnston as the second dean of the college. Dean Nelson serves on various committees of the AVMA and AAVMC, with a special interest in diversity issues as they relate to the veterinary profession.

A board-certified radiologist, Ruby Perry is interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences at Tuskegee University. She is the first female African American veterinary dean in the United States.  Dr. Perry had previously served as associate dean for academic affairs since 2007. After undergraduate studies at Belhaven College and Jackson State University, Dr. Perry received her BS and DVM from Tuskegee in 1976 and 1977, respectively. She initially pursued a clinical career, completing the veterinary radiology residency at Michigan State University and an MS degree (Microbiology).  Dr. Perry’s administrative experience includes section chief of veterinary radiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University, acting chair of the department of small animal medicine, surgery and radiology at Tuskegee University, interim chief of staff in the office of the president at Tuskegee University. A decorated teacher and mentor, she has been recognized for her leadership in professional and community service. She is a former president of the Tuskegee Veterinary Medical Association.

Willie Reed graduated from Tuskegee in 1978, then attended Purdue where he earned a PhD in veterinary pathology. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and charter diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians, Dr. Reed served for several years on the Purdue faculty in the avian diagnostic services assuming increasing administrative responsibilities, and was eventually recruited to Director of the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (4) at Michigan State University (1990). He was subsequently named Chair of the Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation. Dr. Reed returned to Purdue in 2008 as dean, a position he currently holds. Reed has held several other major leadership positions in veterinary medicine, including President of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), president of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD), and chair of the AVMA’s Council on Research. He was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Zoetis Inc. in 2014.

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(1) Smith, Donald F. Foreign-Born Deans of Veterinary Medicine. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine. December  5, 2014.

(2) Smith, Donald F. Education of a Dean. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine. July 7, 2013.

(3) Smith, Donald F. and Julie Kumble. Mentoring as a Career Factor: Six US Women Veterinary Deans Reflect. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine. September 12, 2013.

(4) Now called the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health