Colette Wagner-Mann, an associate adjunct professor of biomedical sciences in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, was chosen as the college’s 2021 Alumna of the Year. Wagner-Mann’s honor was announced during the college’s Alumni Weekend held Sept. 17-18.
Wagner-Mann received her doctor of veterinary medicine degree in 1983, after earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at MU. She went on to complete a PhD in physiology at Texas A&M as well as postdoctoral training at Auburn and Mizzou. She has held numerous teaching and research positions at MU, as well as at Auburn, Texas A&M and Helias High School in Jefferson City.
Her selection was announced Sept. 17 during a reunion banquet held at Stoney Creek Hotel in Columbia.
Doug Bowles, PhD, who is chairman of the CVM’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, submitted a letter of support for Wanger-Mann’s nomination. He told the audience of Wagner-Mann’s commitment to student success.
“In academia, adjunct means part time, but there was nothing about Dr. Wagner-Mann’s teaching that was part time,” Bowles said. “It was beyond full time ─ meeting with students, taking on extra teaching, contributing whenever and wherever she saw need. Students notice this and always express their appreciation for her being available after hours and sacrificing her weekends to be in the lab to help them learn.
“And she did all this with humility, always deflecting praise to those around her who she considered to be the master teachers,” he continued. “I would firmly counter that Dr. Wagner-Mann is indeed a master teacher, and her presence over the past 10 years has made a profound and positive impact upon over a thousand students and the college as a whole. I know she has inspired me.”
Wagner-Mann and her husband, Tony Mann, DVM, MS, a professor at the CVM and small animal soft tissue surgeon, have two children and two grandchildren.
The presentation of the Alumnus of the Year Award was one of several activities held for the college’s alumni during the reunion weekend.
A tailgate brunch at the college on Sept. 18 preceded the Mizzou versus Southeast Missouri State football game. Attendees were invited to tour the Veterinary Health Center and enjoy wagon rides pulled by the CVM’s new mule team, Boone and George.
A 50-year reunion dinner was held for the Classes of 1970 (deferred from 2020 due to the pandemic) and 1971 on Sept. 18, also at Stoney Creek. Participating alumni were invited to share stories from their years as veterinary students and their careers.
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