On Getting the Call: Telephoning Accepted Veterinary College Applicants

by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University, January 30, 2011

Ninety-five year old Dr. John Murray’s voice quivered as he told me how he was informed of his acceptance at Cornell’s veterinary college in summer 1935. He had traveled to Cornell to meet the dean a couple of months earlier and was awaiting the college’s decision.

Time went on and I didn’t hear anything. I had given up hope of being admitted when, along in July, I saw my Dad coming into the tannery where I was working. He was holding a letter, and I knew right then that this was it—it was either yes or no. He handed me the letter and I looked up in the left-hand corner:  NEW YORK STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE. My fingers were trembling as I opened the letter and read those opening lines: 'We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted.'  That letter changed my life forever.

Today’s candidates more commonly receive their acceptances by password-secured e-mail. However, for the last few years I was dean, I personally telephoned as many accepted candidates as I could reach during the week assigned for notification. The surprise and joy at the other end of the line was an experience I looked forward to each year.

NOT FOR US ALONE: The 150th Anniversary of the Veterinary Profession in the United States

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

January 29, 2011

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

The first veterinary college opened in France 250 years ago, but it took another century before the profession was formally established in the United States. 

The year was 1863, and the place was New York City. Forty veterinarians from the northeastern states met on June 9-10 and formed the United States Veterinary Medical Association (USVMA).

Notable African-American Veterinarians

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University 
Posted 01.26.11.



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



February is designated as Black History Month and this year I would like to recognize some notable African-American veterinarians. The deans of three of our 28 veterinary colleges are African-American: Drs. Willie M. Reed (Purdue), Tsegaye HabteMariam (Tuskegee), and Phillip D. Nelson (Western Univ Health Sciences). Dr. Reed, who also serves as 2010-11 president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, recently shared with me his hope that they might serve as role models for young African-Americans who aspire to a career in the health professions.

Frederick Douglass Patterson (1901-1988) was one of the most influential Black veterinarians in U.S. history. Orphaned before he was two years of age and raised by an older sister who encouraged him to get an education, Patterson received his veterinary degree from Iowa State University (1923) and PhD from Cornell (1932). After becoming president of Tuskegee Institute (now University) in 1935, he overcame tremendous obstacles to establish a veterinary college for Black students at a time when higher education in the South was generally segregated and there were only about 12 veterinary colleges in the country.

Though his contributions to veterinary medicine represent worthy lifetime achievements, more Americans recognize his name as the organizer of the United Negro College Fund which was incorporated in 1944.  To veterinarians and animal lovers everywhere, we can pay tribute to a DVM the next time we hear the well-known phrase, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”. Patterson also helped establish the Tuskegee Airmen program during his tenure as president. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1987.

Finally, a recognition to several institutions, in particular, Kansas State, Iowa State, Michigan State, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. Between 1900 and the establishment of the veterinary college at Tuskegee in 1945, these colleges accepted and educated about 70 young Black men to become veterinarians. Several also received postgraduate training, usually leading to a PhD. They formed a core of mentors and role models for the succeeding generations of African-American veterinarians.

Shown below (left) is the graduation photo of Aubrey E. Robinson, Sr. Originally from Pennsylvania, he received his DVM from Cornell in 1920 and established a progressive mixed animal practice in New Jersey. Most of his clients were white, and he served some very large dairy herds and hog operations. He and his wife had one daughter (a teacher), and three sons (a federal judge, an engineer and a veterinarian).

The veterinarian, Dr. Charles R. Robinson, graduated from Cornell in 1944. As a second-year student, he met President Patterson of Tuskegee Institute when he visited Cornell to recruit faculty for his new college. Though Robinson was not one of the inaugural faculty as Patterson had hoped, he did teach there after his war service. He then returned to his father's practice where he spent the remainder of his career. Dr. and Mrs. Robinson (right) are retired and live in Arizona.

Photos courtesy of Cornell University (left) and the author (right).

Cornell's DVM Class of 2015 (150th Anniversary)

Blog by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University, 01.26.11

This a special welcome to the students who comprise the Veterinary Class of 2015 at Cornell University. You are on track to complete your DVM degree during the 150^th anniversary of the university.

Our founder, Ezra Cornell, was an entrepreneur who built a vast telegraph network for Samuel Morse. After amassing his fortune in Western Union stock, Cornell returned to his first love, farming. He acquired an expansive land tract on the top of the hill overlooking Cayuga Lake and then set to work fulfilling his dream of providing an educational institution where any person could find instruction in any study.

Veterinarians World-Wide Mourn the Passing of Dr. Robert W. Kirk

by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University. dfs6@cornell.edu.

Posted January 20, 2011

Dr. Robert W. Kirk, professor emeritus of medicine at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, died yesterday (January 19^th) in Ithaca.

A 1946 graduate of Cornell, Dr. Kirk was one of the most accomplished clinical veterinarians, authors and educators of the 20^th century. His knowledge of general small animal medicine was established through several years in private practice, then honed in his three decades of advanced medical practice, including dermatology, at Cornell University.

Dr. Stephen Ettinger receives Mark Morris Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award

by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University; dfs6@cornell.edu
Posted January 19, 2011.


Dr. Stephen Ettinger received the Mark Morris Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award last Saturday evening at the North America Veterinary Conference in Orlando, Florida. One of North America’s premier annual veterinary recognitions, it is given to the individual who has contributed most significantly to small animal medicine over his or her career.

The 1930s Spike in Jewish Veterinary Students at Cornell

Donald F. Smith, DVM (dfs6@cornell.edu)

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

In my research of Cornell veterinary students during the Great Depression, I had observed that there was a pronounced increase in the number of Jewish students starting in 1931 and continuing through the decade. This was happening at the same time as Cornell’s medical school and many elite undergraduate colleges were quietly limiting the number of Jews to about 10% of their enrollments.

Why is there no Veterinary College in New York City?

By Dr. Donald F. Smith, Cornell University
Posted January 7, 2011 (reposted July 9, 2012).

This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 

of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

Veterinary medicine is filled with strange anecdotes and quirks of history. For example:

• What happened to the four veterinary colleges that once existed in New York City – and the ones in Chicago, Washington, San Francisco and many other cities?

• When and why did veterinary colleges separate from medical schools and move to the country?
• Why did the veterinary profession almost collapse between 1920 and 1925, when much of the rest of the country was experiencing the “Roaring Twenties”?
• Why did Cornell’s veterinary college―that had a written policy of favoring farm boys over city boys―admit a larger proportion of urban-raised Jews during the 1930s than the medical college at Cornell and the most prominent undergraduate colleges of the period?
• Why did the veterinary colleges at Harvard University and New York University (which had state funding) both close?

         These and many other questions are answered in an article on the history of veterinary medicine just published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. [J Vet Med Educ 37 (4) p 317-327]. Based in large part from first person interviews with veterinarians (or close family members) who graduated in the 1920s and 1930s, this article provides answers to many questions that have never even previously been asked.
         This is the first in a series that summarizes the content of a course in veterinary history that I teach for veterinary students at Cornell. Three more articles have since been published and they describe the progress in veterinary education to the present. 

An abstract of the first article can be located at  http://jvmeonline.metapress.com/content/t17226626n444666/?p=b1ad61e374e64b89ae5363f40fc6dc84&pi=1
A full copy can be obtained from the publisher, library access, or by contacting me at the address below.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu