Dr. Gordon L. Coppoc - DVM 1963
2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award
Gordon L. Coppoc, DVM, Ph.D., has been selected by the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Alumni Association for a 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award. This award is in recognition of his outstanding achievements, humanitarian service and contributions to the veterinary profession. The award was presented June 5 during the college’s Alumni Reunion Weekend.
Dr. Coppoc is an emeritus professor of Basic Medical Sciences; former head of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana; and emeritus adjunct professor of pharmacology and associate dean, Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the Indiana University School of Medicine - Lafayette. He was previously honored by K-State with a 2004 Alumni Recognition Award presented during the alumni reception held at the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has received other recognitions including being named a Sagamore of the Wabash by the governor of the State of Indiana.
In 2015, Dr. Coppoc and his wife, Harriet, endowed the Coppoc One-Health Lecture Series in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at K-State. The objective of the Coppoc lecture series is to bring internationally acclaimed scientists to K-State to discuss their research interests with students and faculty throughout the university, focusing specifically on One Health, which are issues that emphasize the connections between animal and human health. Dr. Coppoc especially appreciated the connections because of his career in both veterinary and human medicine.
“I just want to express my thanks for this wonderful and unexpected recognition," Dr. Coppoc said. "My parents gave me a strong faith and a strong work ethic that has worked well throughout my entire career. I felt my DVM education prepared me for any future I might want to go into because of its basic breadth in biology, diseases and things that no Ph.D. student would ever have learned about. It opened so many doors for the various roles I played in the Air Force, Purdue Veterinary School as a department head, and the Indiana School of Medicine where I was an associate dean. Thank you for this special honor.”
“Dr. Coppoc had amazing career, impacting both animal and human medicine,” said Dr. Bonnie Rush, Hodes Family Dean. “We are grateful for his support to allow us to bring world-class speakers to the College of Veterinary Medicine.”
Born in Larned, Kansas, in 1939, Dr. Coppoc graduated from high school 15 miles south in Belpre, Kansas, in 1957. Dr. Gordon Coppoc received his bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1961 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1963, both from Kansas State University. He was awarded his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Harvard University in 1968.
Dr. Coppoc spent a year as instructor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine before reporting to the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks AFB, Texas, for two years active duty as a Captain in the United States Air Force Veterinary Corps. For the next two years, Dr. Coppoc completed post-doctoral training in biochemistry at the University of Chicago Ben May Laboratory for Cancer Research. He then joined the faculty at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1971.
In 1979, he was appointed as department head of physiology and pharmacology at Purdue and was later head of the department of basic medical science formed from the merger of his former department and the department of anatomy in 1995 until stepping down from that position in 2008. In 1998, he was appointed assistant dean at the Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the Indiana University School of Medicine - Lafayette. He retired at the end of 2014 as an associate dean. He taught pharmacology to both veterinary and medical students until he retired.
Harriet is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Kansas. She taught music for 28 years and performed over 30 years as principal flutist in the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra and received recognition by the legislature of Indiana as well as for her leadership in the Lafayette music community. Dr. Coppoc has served on Lafayette Symphony’s board of directors for more than 10 years. He also was president and sang in the Bach Chorale Singers, a noted community choir. He has chaired his church congregation and has been on the board of directors of the Lafayette Rotary Club. The Coppocs have two married daughters and seven grandchildren.
Dr. Coppoc is a founding member of the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics; a founding member of CONVINCE; the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; the American Veterinary Medical Association; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Indiana Veterinary Medical Society, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi.
Dr. Coppoc received the Senior Leader Award from K-State in 1963; First Place Proficiency in Veterinary Medicine Award, K-State, 1963; the Alumni Faculty Award for Excellence, School of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, 1994; and the Award of Merit from the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine, Gamma Sigma Delta, Purdue chapter, 1998.