Recognition Awards

List of All Previous Award Recipients

2008 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year

The Association for Women Veterinarians Foundation is pleased to announce the name of our 2008 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year, Dr. Melinda J. Wilkerson. The OWVY is awarded to a female graduate of an accredited veterinary school. Its purpose is to recognize special effort and achievement by a woman veterinarian in any area of veterinary medicine.

Dr. Wilkerson received her DVM and MS from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri, and then completed her PhD degree in Veterinary Science as well as a residency in Veterinary Pathology at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She is double boarded in Anatomical Pathology and Clinical Pathology. Dr. Wilkerson currently is the Director of the premier Clinical Immunology/ Flow Cytometry Laboratory in the Midwest, an Associate Professor of Immunology, and Interim Dean of Academic Programs, all at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University. She is also conducting research on host – parasite interaction involving both infectious and non- infectious agents, as well as developing innovative assays using flow cytometry, including evaluating cellular immunity in many different species.

Dr. Ralph Richardson, Dean at Kansas State’s CVM, states “She has taken a leadership stance that is forward–thinking, insightful, and in tune with a new generation of veterinary students. I have been amazed how she has worked with students, information technology support personnel, faculty and staff to implement the most radical changes that our curriculum and learning tools have experienced in at least the past 10 years.” Dr. Lisa Freeman further states, “Dr. Wilkerson has led the initiative to make our veterinary curriculum paperless. She has overseen the process of training faculty and incoming students to rely on Tablet PC’s rather than reams of paper. Dr. Melinda Wilkerson is known in our college and across the K-State campus as a caring and creative individual dedicated to teaching, research and service.”

Dr. Stephen Hines at Washington State relates “Mindy is fearlessly leading KSU into new areas as she modernizes the curriculum, seeks to address long standing problems, facilitates the creative use of new technology, and investigates how best to assess learning outcomes. She is doing all this while maintaining her teaching, research, and service roles, and as she attends to the many local and national responsibilities of the Associate Dean. It is nothing short of astounding.”

In closing, Dr. Steven Stockham of Kansas State states, “Four of our last five clinical pathology residents have been women. Each of them sees Dr. Wilkerson as a role model; not only for her professional accomplishments but also for her professional ethics and activities. When Dr. Wilkerson speaks, they listen; when Dr. Wilkerson works, they observe; when Dr. Wilkerson accomplishes a task, they admire.”

We proudly present Dr. Melinda Wilkerson as our 2008 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian.

Top of Page

For further information contact the AWVF Chairperson

Privacy policy : we do not release, sell or give away your email address to others.