Administrator honored by alma mater

Dr. Thomas Vickroy, executive associate dean and professor of veterinary neuropharmacology at the University of Florida, with Dr. Gracie Vargas, a professor of neuroscience and cell biology at the University of Texas, and Dr. David Niesel, chief research officer and senior vice president and dean of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. (Photo courtesy of University of Texas Medical Branch)

Dr. Thomas Vickroy, the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s executive associate dean, has received the 2017 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Texas Medical Branch for his career accomplishments in teaching, service and research.

The award was presented May 19 in Galveston, Texas, during commencement ceremonies held for the university’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, from which Vickroy earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology in 1982.

Vickroy, who joined the college’s faculty in 1988, is a professor of physiological sciences and has served as the college’s executive associate dean since 2014. In addition, he serves currently as interim associate dean for students and instruction.

Throughout his tenure at UF, Vickroy has taught basic and clinical veterinary pharmacology to professional, or D.V.M., students and previously has taught graduate students both in the UF veterinary medical college and in the UF College of Medicine as well as graduate students in the online Forensic Toxicology program.

He has won several awards for teaching excellence, including the College of Veterinary Class of 1996 Teacher of the Year and the Clinical Sciences Teacher of the Year in 2004.

Also active in research, Vickroy’s achievements in veterinary pharmacology have included several national leadership roles, including regional animal drug coordinator for the Minor-Use Animal Drug Program and national co-director of the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank, or FARAD, a position he still holds. The FARAD program works closely with governmental regulatory agencies to provide science-based expert advice to help mitigate unsafe residues of drugs and other chemicals in products derived from food-producing animals.