Greetings, all,
The new academic year is always an exciting time for campuses across the country, and certainly the positive energy associated with new and returning students is palpable for us here at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine.
I’d like to give a warm welcome to the Class of 2027, our newest D.V.M. class! These 150 new students had their first official day of veterinary school on Aug. 10. The following day was Student Club and Family Day, an opportunity for the new students and their guests to talk to our student club representatives about their areas of interest and for the clubs to encourage involvement on the part of the new class. Our Veterinary Academic Building has been full of traffic and students in their brand-new scrubs, heading to and from freshman anatomy class, hanging out in new groups of classmates and with lots of selfies being taken outside of the building. All of us at the college are going to do everything we can to help these future veterinarians succeed in every aspect of their professional training.
In addition, 25 new graduate students have joined us at UFCVM and we’re so happy to have them here. We also celebrate our summer graduates, who recently completed their programs and received their M.S. and Ph.D. degrees during campus commencement exercises on Aug. 11.
Congratulations to all of our latest traditional (on-campus) M.S. degree recipients, along with those who completed M.S. degrees in shelter medicine, forensic toxicology and veterinary forensic sciences through our online/distance education programs.
I’d also like to welcome our 120 new house officers, who have all hit the ground running in the UF Veterinary Hospitals.
In other news of note, special thanks to Dr. Adesola Odunayo, who planned and organized a heartwarming and inspiring Celebration of Life event at the college on Aug. 12, reuniting formerly critically ill animal patients who had been successfully treated at UF with members of their care teams. This event brought over a dozen animals and their owners back to the college so their stories could be shared with a broader group and those who had cared for these animals when they were very sick could see them happy and healthy. What a wonderful demonstration of how dedicated and passionate our people are about helping people and their pets.
We were also thrilled to receive a multimillion gift from the Laiks family to further canine oncology research at the college.
Finally, I am pleased to welcome Dr. Janet Robishaw, our new associate dean for research and graduate studies, and Dr. Charles Vite, who will be heading up our department of small animal clinical sciences as chair. Dr. Robishaw arrived at UF in mid-August, and Dr. Vite’s appointment will be effective Oct. 1. Both will be wonderful additions to our leadership team.
I’m continually impressed by the ways all of you support one another, always looking for new ways to collaborate and communicate. We are stronger as a college and individually as a result.
With gratitude,
Dana N. Zimmel, D.V.M.
Professor and Dean