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  

A Tribute to African-American Deans in Veterinary Medicine

Posted February 27, 2012
Written by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

My final blog for February is a celebration and tribute to African-American veterinarians who are currently deans of U.S. veterinary colleges, or have recently served in that capacity.  At a time when fewer than three percent of the veterinary students in the United States are African-American, three of our 28 veterinary colleges are currently led by African-American deans.



Current deans of veterinary medicine (L-R): Willie M. Reed (Purdue), Phillip D. Nelson
(Western University of the Health Sciences) and Tsegaye Habtermariam (Tuskegee).
Photo by the author, 2011



Dr. Willie M. Reed, dean of Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, was raised in Alabama and received his DVM from Tuskegee University in 1978, and PhD from Purdue in 1982. He served as an avian pathologist on the faculty at Purdue, then became director of Michigan State University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (now called the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health). An accomplished scientist, administrator and champion of diversity, Dr. Reed was attracted back to Purdue as dean in 2007, where he has served both the college and the greater veterinary community with distinction. He is past president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

The dean of newest veterinary college in the U.S. at Western University of the Health Sciences is Phillip D. Nelson, DVM, PhD. A 1979 veterinary graduate of Tuskegee University with his PhD from North Carolina State University (1993), Dr. Nelson established a career that included research on a feline model for human HIV infection. He held senior administrative positions at Tuskegee University and at Mississippi State’s veterinary college before moving to Western in 2005 and becoming the college’s second dean in 2007. Dr. Nelson is a strong proponent that each student should develop a positive moral compass, and practice the profession with compassion and decency.

Dr. Tsegaye Habtemariam’s journey to becoming Tuskegee’s Dean of Veterinary Medicine and Nursing and Allied Health in 2006 began in his home country of Ethiopia where he received his B.Sc. in 1964. His passion to become a veterinarian led him to the U.S. where he received this DVM from Colorado State University in 1970, and advanced degrees (MPVM and PhD) from the University of California at Davis. Dr. Habtemariam has a distinguished research record in risk analysis with a focus on diseases of agricultural species like Food and Mouth Disease and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (often referred to as “mad cow disease”). He has held numerous prominent international assignments of significant importance to disease surveillance and control.



Dr. Michael Blackwell, veterinary dean,
the University of Tennessee (2000-2007).
Photo provided by Dr. Blackwell



Dr. Michael J. Blackwell was the first African-American to serve as dean of a veterinary college outside of Tuskegee. A second-generation veterinarian—his father was in the second graduating class at Tuskegee—Dr. Blackwell was appointed dean of the veterinary college at the University of Tennessee in 2000 after having been Chief of Staff of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States.

Dr. Blackwell served as dean with distinction for seven years when he left the university to form The Blackwell Group, a management and venture-capital corporation.


Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

Tuskegee University's Distinctive School of Veterinary Medicine

Posted January 13, 2012 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

The first and only veterinary school at an historic Black college was established in the post WWII period at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From its humble beginnings under the inspiration of Frederick Douglass Patterson, veterinarian and third president of Tuskegee, the school has had a distinguished history of educating young African-Americans and others for the past seven decades.

Patterson was orphaned at an early age and separated from his family except for an older sister who raised and supported him though his early life and schooling. He had the good fortune to attend Iowa State University, where he received his DVM in 1923 and his M.S. three years later. He then joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute at a time when the South was transitioning from plantation living where the principal crop was cotton, to livestock production. The need for veterinarians became more acute as farmers were poorly equipped to raise cattle and other livestock.



Tuskegee University veterinary students
examine a dog (above) and assist during
operation of canine patient (below).
Photos provided by Tuskegee University
School of Veterinary Medicine

Though some of the northern veterinary colleges, in particular, Kansas State and Ohio State Universities, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, had educated African-American students before 1940, the numbers were small (fewer than 70). The southern veterinary colleges, where most of the aspiring Black students lived, were segregated. As the northern colleges became more pressed to admit students from their states, there were few places for African-Americans students to receive the DVM degree.

Dr. Patterson was sent to Cornell for further graduate training. Shortly after returning with his PhD, he was named the third president of Tuskegee.

A bold and visionary leader, President Patterson lobbied successfully from the state of Alabama for a new program in veterinary medicine. Using that modest public support as well as student labor, the college opened in 1945 with the expectation that it would become a regional center where Blacks could study veterinary medicine.

Patterson’s early faculty were led by Dr. Edward B. Evans, who became the founding dean. Several faculty traveled to northern schools like Cornell and Iowa State University for graduate degrees in their early years. This was essential to establish credible teaching and research programs and to eventually achieve accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

President Patterson's legacy extended to other fields as he encouraged African-Americans to pursue higher education. Historically, he is best known as the leader who established the United Negro College Fund. He also supported the establishment of the famed Tuskegee Airmen program .

Tuskegee’s School of Veterinary Medicine currently enrolls approximately 70 DVM students in each class. Two of the current deans of other U.S. veterinary colleges are Tuskegee graduates: Willie Reed '78 (Purdue University) and Phillip Nelson '79 (Western University of the Health Sciences). Dr. Michael Blackwell '75 served as chief of staff for the surgeon general of the U.S. (1999-2000) and also dean of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (2000-2008).

Tsegaye Habtemariam, DVM, MPVM, PhD
Dean, Tuskegee University 
College of Veterinary Medicine,
Nursing and Allied Health 
All photos provided by Tuskegee University

Most Tuskegee graduates practice east of the Mississippi, though only 7% live in Alabama. Fifty percent reside in states adjacent to Alabama (Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky); and another 10% practice in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Other notable Tuskegee veterinary graduates include Dr. Harold Davis '76, past president of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and former VP, Amgen, Inc., and Dr. Matthew Jenkins '57, former practitioner in California and former member of Tuskegee’s Board of Trustees. Dr. and Mrs. Roberta Jenkins are generous supporters of Tuskegee’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu