Auburn veterinary school names an alumnus and professor dean

The seventh dean in the history of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine is Calvin Johnson, DVM, PhD, DACVP, resident veterinary professor, department head and alumnus. He will officially step into his new position March 1, though he was acting dean for more than a year after Timothy Boosinger, DVM, PhD, DACVP, was named Auburn’s provost.

“I am very honored to have been named dean and am enthusiastic about working with the faculty, staff, students and alumni to mold our programs to meet the needs of a 21st-century global society, while preserving Auburn’s historical strengths in veterinary medicine,” Johnson says.

According to a university release, Johnson has been head of the department of pathobiology since 2005, having joined the Auburn faculty as a professor in 2003. His experience also includes 11 years at the University of Florida.

“He has done an excellent job as a department head and during his time as acting dean,” Boosinger says. “His record is outstanding. We are excited that he will be leading the college in the coming years.”

“I look forward to building upon the successful leadership of Dr. Boosinger and all the previous deans,” Johnson says. “Among his many contributions, Dr. Boosinger developed a business model to construct state-of-the-art hospitals for large and small animals, and a premier educational facility that can accommodate expanded classes and novel instructional strategies. My goal is to continue building the program and to support the faculty in pursuing the college’s mission.”

A 1979 graduate of Auburn High School, Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983 and his veterinary degree in 1986, both from Auburn University. He earned his PhD in veterinary medical science (pathology) from North Carolina State University in 1992. Johnson is chair of Auburn University’s Health Sciences Task Force and serves on numerous other university and college committees. He is a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, being board-certified in anatomic pathology, and in 2012 he was named Mentor of the Year by the national Student Chapters of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. His primary research areas involve the pathogenesis of feline immunodeficiency virus infection and veterinary immunology.

He and his wife, Mary, live in Auburn and have a daughter, Frances, an Auburn pharmacy student, and a son, Gardner, an Auburn civil engineering student. Johnson’s father, the late Wiley C. Johnson, was an emeritus professor of agronomy in the College of Agriculture. His mother, Elizabeth Johnson, is a resident of Auburn.