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A Q and A with Dean Lloyd

Dr. James W. Lloyd, dean of the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, shown at his desk on July 18. (Photo by Maria Farias)

Editor’s Note: The UF College of Veterinary Medicine welcomed its sixth dean, Dr. James W. Lloyd, to the college in July. We sat down with him for a brief chat as he begins his tenure here.
Veterinary Page: Why don’t we start by talking about what your first few weeks have been like?

Dean Lloyd: The first two weeks have just been a real treat. It doesn’t matter which leaf I look under or which door I look behind, I’m consistently and pleasantly surprised with the quality of the programs and the people at the UF CVM. My time here so far has been wonderful in that everyone has been so welcoming and so supportive. I need to thank dean’s office staff and the leadership team within the college for that.

I don’t think I could have scripted it much better. I’ll also say this. In spite of the economic roller coaster Florida and the University of Florida have experienced over the last few years, thanks to recent legislative actions, central UF support and prudent leadership under the previous dean, I arrived to find a college that has a solid financial foundation to build upon.

That being said, I’ll quickly acknowledge that we wouldn’t be here without the many sacrifices and concessions that faculty and others have made; I know it has been a difficult time in recent years. We are hoping that the college is now on the upswing and I want to do my part to keep the positive momentum going.

Veterinary Page: What kind of leader are you or would you like to be?

Dean Lloyd: I would like to be an engaged leader, an effective listener and an advocate for the college, students, faculty and staff. We need to do a good job in sharing the good stories about the quality of educational, clinical, research and outreach programs we have here. I hope to be effective in that role.

In advocating, I want to help people to understand what goes on here and how we are making a difference in peoples’ lives. At the same time, I want to be effective in garnering continued strong support for the college and its programs from the university and other sources.

As UF was recently designated a “preeminent” university by Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature, I want to spread the word that there are great opportunities here. We will help UF in its goal of joining the nation’s top 10 public universities through continued engagement in strengthened teaching, clinical service, research, and community outreach.

Veterinary Page: What are your short and long-term goals as dean?

 Dean Lloyd: Short term, I’d just like to meet and start to build relationships with all of our many stakeholder groups. Long term, I want to work with the faculty, staff and students to identify the key strategic priorities for the college, and to build plans around those.

To me, leadership is about two things: preserving the core and leading change. My job as an effective leader is to identify the things we do well and to continue to do those things and build on them as we lead the change that’s inevitable. This challenge exists across the entire mission – teaching, research, and service.