A message from our dean

Dr. Dana Zimmel

Greetings,

As we approach the end of 2022 and find ourselves once more in the holiday season, many of us are preoccupied with events such as family gatherings and celebrations and seasonal tasks. We may worry about keeping our calendars straight, finding, packaging and mailing gifts to loved ones, managing travel logistics, sending cards, meeting necessary end-of-year deadlines — or a combination of these things.

Amidst all of these activities, it can be difficult to carve out time to do whatever represents relaxation and renewal in your lives. I sincerely hope each of you will make time to reflect on what the past year has meant to you and are able to refocus and find renewed gratitude for that which you most treasure.

In the life of the college and across its missions, this has been an exceptionally busy and fruitful year. The college continues to grow and thrive, thanks to the ongoing hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff. It’s difficult to single out all of the major events of 2022 as there have been so many. My year-in-review column on our UF Achievers site lists some of these highlights and my last Veterinary Page column listed several as well. Still, these notable achievements represent only a small portion of the day-to-day accomplishments every one of you play a part in.

As someone with an equine medicine background prior to focusing my career on administration, I sometimes think about what horses, among other animals, have taught me about the art of the possible. The author, Jane Smiley, said: “In the end, we don’t know what horses can do. We only know that when, over the past thousands of years, we have asked something more of them, at least some of them have readily supplied it.” Her quote reminds me of how resiliency and the willingness to embrace new challenges are character traits I see every day in our faculty, our staff and our students. We may ask much of ourselves and of others, but we never know what we are capable of until we suddenly look back and realize how much we managed to achieve.

What we have collectively accomplished in 2022 reflects countless hours of highly focused and dedicated work on the part of many people who make up our college family. In addition, our amazing and enterprising veterinary students continue to make us all proud. My hope is that 2023 will hold still more opportunities to grow and thrive as a college and that each of you will approach the new year rejuvenated and refreshed.

As always, thanks for everything you do to enrich the life of the college and the community beyond.

Happy Holidays!

— Dana

Dana N. Zimmel, D.V.M.
Dean and Professor