Published 4/23/2024
The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine presented more than 140 awards totaling nearly $390,000 during the 2024 Honors and Awards Reception April 21 at the Stoney Creek Hotel. The annual awards ceremony is held to recognize veterinary students, house officers, faculty, and technicians for their scholastic achievements, clinical proficiency, community service, leadership, and positive impact on students’ learning experience.
Among the awards presented to faculty members during the reception were the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence and the Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award.
MU Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and CVM Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Christian Lorson, PhD, presented the Zoetis research award to Assistant Professor of Food Animal Medicine and Surgery Pamela Adkins, DVM, PhD, DACVIM-Large Animal Internal Medicine. Faculty members nominate the recipient. The award recognizes a faculty member or graduate student whose research related to veterinary medicine holds the promise of national recognition. Adkins joined the CVM faculty in 2015 after completing a residency at MU. Her research focus is on bovine mastitis and the molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases.
Interim Dean Leah Cohn, CVM, PhD, DACVIM-Small Animal Internal Medicine, presented the Zoetis award for teaching. Students vote for an outstanding teacher whose ability, dedication, character, and leadership contributes to the advancement of the profession. Associate Professor of Anesthesiology Alex Bukoski, DVM, PhD, ACVAA, was this year’s honoree. Bukoski was also the recipient of a Golden Aesculapius Teaching Award presented by the second-year veterinary students. Also chosen for Golden Aesculapius awards for outstanding teaching were Christopher Baines, PhD, an associate professor of cell biology, selected by the first-year class, and Amy Molitoris, DVM, a clinical instructor of Small Animal Surgery and Critical Care, who was honored by both the third- and fourth-year students.
Baines and Molitoris were also the recipients of SAVMA Teaching Awards. First- and second-year students choose the recipient of the basic sciences teaching award and selected Baines for the honor. VM3 and VM4 students decide the recipient of the award for teaching clinical sciences. They chose Molitoris.
The veterinary student body created a Clinical Area Instructional Award to recognize faculty instruction in clinical areas where MU veterinary students’ mean scores meet or exceed the national average on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. The faculty of the Food Animal Service received this year’s award.
The graduating class also honors a veterinary technician who had an impact on their clinical experience. The class selected two technicians to receive awards, Mariangely Torres-Rodriguez, BS, RVT, and Alyson Zawisza, BS, RVT.