CSU's Withrow takes distinguished professor honor

Fort Collins, Colo.- Dr. Stephen Withrow, an internationally acclaimed cancer specialist, receives Colorado State University's (CSU) highest academic recognition, the University Distinguished Professor award.

Dr. Stephen Withrow

Among Withrow's many contributions to cancer research and treatment, he developed a limb-sparing technique to treat osteosarcoma, a malignant bone tumor in dogs. This technique revolutionized treatment of this disease and has been widely adopted in human cancer centers, the university reports.

A maximum 12 current faculty members at the university may hold the rank of University Distinguished Professor, which is a permanent designation and follows the endorsement by a colleague with the same designation.

To obtain the rank, faculty members are nominated through an extensive review process and must be approved by current university distinguished professors. President Larry Penley approved the selections and secured endorsement from the university's governing board.

"The position of University Distinguished Professor is conferred upon truly extraordinary faculty members," Penley says.

Twenty-five years ago, Withrow established CSU's Animal Cancer Center, now the largest of its kind in the world. The center has trained more veterinary surgical, medical and radiation oncologists than any other veterinary institution and is the only veterinary cancer group to have more than 25 consecutive years of funding from the National Cancer Institute. Withrow has been a 10-year project leader for the National Cancer Institute.

The center, a branch of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital within the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has pioneered numerous surgical, radiation therapy and chemotherapy procedures for animals with cancer. The center treats up to 2,000 pets a year and handles a volume of 10,000 appointments. The center also is home to the Argus Institute, a unique center studying the human-animal bond and providing grief resources to pet owners.

Withrow led a campaign to build a new facility for the center in 1998 and successfully raised $9.3 million for a new wing on the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the largest privately-funded building in the university's history.

In addition to directing the Animal Cancer Center at CSU, Withrow maintains a schedule of work in the clinic, seeing patients as a surgical oncologist 50 percent of the time. His commitment provides a hands-on, personal involvement with the center.

Withrow is the only veterinary fellow of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, a prestigious international society of elite orthopedic physician oncologists. He founded the Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group, an association of 20 private practices and universities that cooperate in clinical trials. He was a charter member of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Oncology Board and is a board certified member of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

During his tenure at CSU, Withrow established two endowed chairs and raised more than $20 million in private funds. His career has been recognized with the Gains Award, the highest honor a clinical veterinarian can receive, from the national veterinary associations of two countries: Canada in 1978 and the United States in 1990.