The James G. Morris Lectureship in Companion Animal Nutrition was established to honor Dr. James G. Morris who taught and published much research on companion animal nutrition in the School of Veterinary Medicine on the Davis Campus.
Dr. Morris came to the University of California, Davis in 1969 with a joint appointment in Animal Science and the School of Veterinary Medicine. Over the years his research emphasis narrowed, and he focused almost exclusively on cats. As a result, his faculty appointment was transferred in 1989 to the Department of Physiological Sciences, which later was incorporated into the Department of Molecular Biosciences. Through his initial veterinary student teaching assignment in basic nutrition, he became aware of the dearth of information on nutrient requirements of companion animals. This was especially true for the domestic cat.
Beginning in the early 70's, Dr. Morris set out to build a world class program in feline nutrition. He enlisted the collaboration of Dr. Quinton R. Rogers in this effort, and as you know, they continued to work together in this field for over two decades. Throughout this period, Dr. Morris exhibited visionary leadership for the work. His research laboratory is recognized as the leading feline nutrition facility in the world.
Dr. Morris published his first paper relating to cats in 1977. About 150 papers on feline nutrition followed, and included work on at least 40 nutrients at various life stages in the domestic cat. He presented numerous papers to national and international conferences, to the pet food industry and served on both of the Subcommittees on Dog and Cat Nutrition of the Committee on Animal Nutrition of the National Academy of Sciences.
In recognition of his years of service and numerous contributions to animal health, the School of Veterinary Medicine has established a permanent lectureship in companion animal nutrition to be known as The James G. Morris Lecture in Companion Animal Nutrition. The lectureship is supported by an endowment, which provides earnings to support an annual lecture by a distinguished lecturer in some area of companion animal nutrition.
The James G. Morris Lecturers:
2001 – Quinton R. Rogers
2002 – Herman A.W. Hazewinkle
2004 – Harold F. Hintz
2005 – Ellen Kienzle
2006 – John Bauer
2008 – Ian D. Hume
2009 – George C. Fahey
2010 – Richard C. Hill
2011 – Charles Robbins
2012 – Josef Kamphues
2013 – Margarethe Hoenig
2014 – Patricia Harris
2016 – Olav Oftedal
2017 – Kirk Klasing