University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Professor Emeritus William Fales, PhD, has received the 2020 American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians E.P. Pope Award. The award is the highest recognition for significant contributions to the organization and the field of veterinary diagnostic laboratory medicine.
Fales began serving the CVM in 1974 as a research associate in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology. From 1975 to 1981 he was an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and served as a clinical microbiologist for the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory and what was then the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. In 1981 he became a tenured associate professor, and in 1986 was named a full professor. He was elected as an honorary diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists in 1992. In August of 2015 he retired from MU and accepted an adjunct appointment and was named professor emeritus.
This award is the latest of many honors bestowed on Fales. He previously received the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association President’s Award, as well as induction into the Missouri Veterinary Medical Foundation’s Veterinary Honor Roll. At the time of induction to the Honor Roll, Fales was the only non-DVM to be admitted.
In his E.P. Pope Award acceptance speech, Fales said, “Prior recipients of the E.B. Pope Award were giants that allowed me to stand on their shoulders and gain insight into the future. This award is truly the capstone of my career and I am delighted to accept the E.B. Pope Award. It is truly an honor to be recognized for work that I thoroughly enjoyed doing.”
By Nick Childress
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