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The first reference to the
field of veterinary medicine at Kansas State was in 1862. Beginning
in 1886, animal health courses were offered to students enrolled in
agriculture but not for veterinary degree credit. The curriculum
leading to the degree, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, was
established in 1905. At first, the school was known as the
Department of Veterinary Medicine; it became the Division of
Veterinary Medicine in 1919, when it separated from the School of
Agriculture and in 1943, the name Division was changed to School. In
1963, the Veterinary Medicine Program was designated a college after
Kansas State College became a University. Of the present colleges of
veterinary medicine, Kansas State University is one of the oldest in
the United States to grant the DVM degree.
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Dr. Joseph Bushman,
a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College in London, was a lecturer
in the Agricultural Institute at Kansas State Agricultural College
in 1871. President Lincoln asked Bushman to serve in the U.S. Army
as a veterinary sergeant during the Civil War, but he declined the
invitation because in his country (England) army veterinarians were
commissioned officers. He was then commissioned in the Quartermaster
Corps. |
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Dr. William A. Hagan,
a 1915 graduate of the Kansas State Agricultural College was
appointed Dean of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine in 1932
and served in that capacity for 27 years from 1932-59. He also was
the 85th president of the AVMA from 1947-48. |
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Dr. Heinrich Detmers
was the first veterinarian to join the
faculty of the Kansas State Agricultural College serving from
1872-74. Dr. Detmers was educated at the Royal Veterinary Colleges
in Hanover and Berlin. The 1871-72 catalog of KSAC lists 11 faculty,
including President Denison, Dr. H.J. Detmers, VS, Professor of
Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, and his daughter, Miss
Jennie Detmers, Teacher of Chemistry and German. The catalog also
lists a three-year course in veterinary science.
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General Wayne O.
(Sage) Kester, was born in a sod
house on Muddy Creek near Stockville, Nebraska in
1906. He graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College
with his DVM in 1931, passed the Army veterinary proficiency
exam but was not called to active duty until 1933. He served
as Chief of Veterinary Services for the Pacific Theater
during World War II. In 1949 he was reassigned to the U.S.
Air Force, charged with establishing the Air Force
Veterinary Corps. He was the first veterinarian to attain
brigadier general rank in that service. He served as
president of the AVMA from 1956 to 57. After retirement in
1957, he served as president of the American Association of
Equine Practitioners in 1959 and as executive director from
1962-87.
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Dr. Nelson Mayo
was elected Professor of Physiology and
Veterinary Science at KSAC in 1890, serving until 1897 and again
from 1901-04. He was responsible for detecting tuberculosis in the
College herd which resulted in the termination of his faculty
appointment in 1897. He was subsequently reappointed in 1901 after
Dr. James Law of Cornell University and Dr. T.A. Geddes of the
Bureau of Animal Industry confirmed his findings. Dr. Mayo was also
the faculty member in charge of the Athletic Club and responsible
for the beginning of organized football at K-State.
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Dr. Septimus Sisson,
who is recognized as one of the most outstanding veterinary
anatomists in the world, was a student at KSAC in 1883-84 and the
College herdsman for the Farm Department for several years. He
received his VS degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1891,
practiced in Fort Scott for a short time, and was a demonstrator of
anatomy at the Ontario Veterinary College before he joined the
faculty at KSAC in 1899. |
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Dr. Francis S.
Schoenlieber was on the KSAC faculty from
1905-17, serving as Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Head of the
Department of Veterinary Medicine. During his tenure, the 4- year
curriculum in veterinary medicine was established in 1905, Leasure
Hall was completed in 1907, and a department of veterinary medicine
was established in the Division of Agriculture. He received BSA and
MSA degrees from Iowa State College, a DVS degree from the Chicago
Veterinary College in 1890, and MD degrees from the Harvey Medical
College in Chicago and the National Medical College, also in
Chicago. He served as Dean, McKillip Veterinary College from 1896-99
and from 1901-05 before coming to KSAC; Dr. Mignon Nicholson, the
first woman to earn a veterinary degree in North America graduated
from McKillip Veterinary College in 1903 during Schoenlieber's
tenure as dean.
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Eldon Emanuel
Leasure, graduated from the KSU
College of Veterinary Medicine in 1923 and joined the
faculty in 1926, earning a master’s in pathology in 1930. He
was appointed Dean of the College in 1948 by President
Milton S. Eisenhower and served until 1964. During his
tenure, the new Veterinary Hospital (now Dykstra Hall) was
planned, financed and completed for use in 1955. Old
Veterinary Hall was named Leasure Hall in 1968. In 1955,
Leasure served on an Agriculture-Veterinary Medicine Team of
three Americans who visited India for the U.S. International
Cooperation Administration to further the Foreign Aid
Program to India. Leasure served as President of the
American Veterinary Medical Association in 1960-61. In 1962,
Leasure and Dr. Glenn Beck, Dean of Agriculture, visited
Nigeria, under USAID auspices, to determine if agriculture
and veterinary medicine colleges should be developed in the
region.
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