AVMA appoints new executive vice president

Schaumburg, Ill. - 3/30/07 - Dr. Ron DeHaven, administrator of the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has been named the new executive vice president at the American Veterinary Medical Association.With more than 25 years of public health experience, DeHaven will succeed Dr. Bruce Little, retiring this year after service as executive vice president since 1996."This position at the AVMA will provide me an exciting opportunity to give back to the profession. I will be in a leadership position in the organization that represents 75,000 veterinarians at a time when the profession is at a crossroads. We are facing a future where the intersection of animal health and public health and food supply veterinary medicine is becoming critical to meeting the needs of a global society," DeHaven says.After obtaining his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Purdue University and a master's degree in business administration from Millsaps College, DeHaven spent four years in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps before joining APHIS.AVMA President Dr. Roger Mahr, DVM, says DeHaven's career has demonstrated his commitment to the AVMA mission of improving animal and human health and advancing the veterinary medical profession. "I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Dr. DeHaven's global perspective on the continuing convergence of animal health, human health and ecosystem health," Mahr says.