AVMA Executive Board line-up changes

SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — A few new faces will gather around the table at the next American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Executive Board meeting.

Dr. H. Theodore Trimmer, of Las Vegas, will replace Dr. David L. McCrystle, whose term expired this year. Trimmer will represent District X, which is composed of California, Hawaii and Nevada.

And Dr. V. Hugh "Chip" Price Jr. of Shreveport, La., is taking over in District VIII to replace Dr. Larry M. Kornegay, who is running for AVMA president-elect.

District VIII comprises Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

Finally, on Sept. 5, Dr. Elizabeth Curry-Galvin takes over as assistant executive vice president, stepping in for the retiring Dr. Lyle Vogel.

The 16-member board is comprised of the president, president-elect, immediate past president, vice-president, treasurer (non-voting) and of one representative from each of 11 geographic districts elected by the veterinarians residing in that district.

The board is responsible for the business of the association and for interpreting policy established by the House of Delegates.

"One of the most important goals I have is to maintain rigorous education standards of the AVMA and the Council on Education," Trimmer says. "I also think that it's essential that the AVMA maintain its great value to its members during these tough economic times while also reaching out to all of our members, but particularly to younger members, to communicate to them the many things that the AVMA does for them."

Prior to joining the executive board, Trimmer served as the Nevada representative on the AVMA House of Delegates. He is a trustee and former chairperson of the AVMA Group Health Life Insurance Trust.

The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine graduate owns several small-animal practices in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Price is director of Animal Resources at the Louisiana State Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, where he is a professor of molecular and cellular physiology and emergency medicine.

A 1980 graduate of Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, Price served in the Navy and later joined the Army Reserve. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2007.

Prior to his election on the Executive Board, Price was the Louisiana delegate in the AVMA House of Delegates and a member of the House Advisory Committee.

Another new non-voting member also will be joining the Executive Board. The Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) President has been invited to participate.

In other AVMA news, Dr. Kurt J. Matushek has been named the new editor-in-chief and director of the AVMA's Publications Division.

He succeeds the late Dr. Janis H. Audin, who died in March.

Matusheck, who has served as interim editor-in-chief since that time, will be responsible for the daily operations and overall content of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) and the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR).

A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, Matushek has an extensive background with AVMA's publications. He began his tenure with the association in 1992 as an assistant editor and became associate editor five years later.

"The AVMA journals are among the most prestigious and widely known veterinary journals in the world, and I look forward to building on that success," says Matushek, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign veterinary college.