Awards

The California Legislature recently passed an Assembly Resolution honoring UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Rodrigo Gallardo. Assembly Member Resolution No. 1257 congratulates Dr. Gallardo upon his receipt of the California Poultry Federation’s (CPF) prestigious Golden Rooster Award.

According to CPF, the Golden Rooster Award is the California poultry industry’s highest honor. It is meant for the industry’s most outstanding member or supporter who has made major contributions to the poultry industry. The award “is an inspiration for all to admire.”

Professor Emeritus Frank Verstraete has set the benchmark for innovation and best practice in veterinary science, establishing standards that are now applied worldwide. An alumnus of the University of Pretoria (UP), he is recognized as a scholar whose research, clinical work and teaching laid the foundations for procedures that continue to guide the treatment of animals across species.

For this, the University of Pretoria conferred him with an honorary doctorate in Veterinary Science during the Faculty of Veterinary Science graduation ceremony on September 5, 2025.

Two professors in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Population Health & Reproduction recently won awards recognizing outstanding achievements in their work with avian diseases. The recipients received their awards at the 2025 American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP) Annual Meeting, held this summer in Portland.

The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) recently acknowledged the dedication and hard work of its staff members with the annual VMTH Staff Excellence Awards.

The VMTH Staff Excellence Awards are divided into these categories:

• Leadership/Staff Excellence
• Small Animal Hospital
• Large Animal Hospital
• Laboratory/Pathology/Pharmacy/Central Services/Diagnostic Imaging
• Supervisor
• Administrative/Client Services
• Unsung Hero

The 2025 VMTH Staff Excellence Awards winners are:

View the campaign overview PDF.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s 75th anniversary communications campaign received “Grand Gold”—the highest honor—in the 2025 Circle of Excellence Awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. 
 

Five faculty members have been selected for a 2025 Chancellor’s Fellowship recognizing their work to, in the words of the organizers, “foster a learning environment where all students can develop the skills to be successful.”

Among them was Dr. Luis M. Peña-Lévano of the School of Veterinary Medicine. The assistant professor of Cooperative Extension was recognized for his outstanding expertise in the field of agricultural economics.

Resident researchers were recognized and applauded at the American College of Internal Veterinary Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in Louisville, Kentucky, during an awards luncheon on June 20, 2025. The special event was sponsored by Purina Institute with many of the winners in attendance. The winning abstracts were among the research presented to ACVIM Forum attendees throughout the conference.

Among those selected from UC Davis are:

Dr. Douglas Mader, Class of 1986, was recently honored with the UC Davis Lifetime Achievement Award. Mader is a triple board-certified veterinary specialist [(DABVP (C/F, R/A), DECZM (Herpetology)] and has been a practicing veterinarian for nearly four decades. He is an internationally recognized expert and lecturer in exotic animal medicine and has written three medical textbooks, numerous book chapters and dozens of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

May 8, 2025—Dr. Kate Hurley, DVM, MPVM, a pioneer in shelter veterinary medicine, is the 2025 winner of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Welfare Award, the association announced today.

On March 14, 2025, the UC Davis veterinary hospital hosted the 46th annual Gerald V. Ling Veterinary Intern and Resident Research Symposium (VIRRS). The day-long event featured short presentations of research findings from house officers (residents, fellows, interns) to fellow house officers, faculty, staff, students, and guests.