Green named veterinary dean at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Veterinary medicine is changing, and Texas A&M University's (TAMU) College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences' new dean, Dr. Eleanor M. Green, is ready to address that change, but all in good time.

"What I'd really love to do is to get there. I'd like to get there and spend some time getting to know the people and the programs personally and then take off in the direction we need to go," says Green.

The college's Board of Regents approved the recommendation that Green become the school's 10th dean at a special meeting Dec. 11. She will assume the position March 1, succeeding Dean Dr. H. Richard Adams.

Overseeing continuation of the ongoing research at the college is a priority, but addressing the changing world of veterinary medicine will be one of the next things she will look to conquer, Green says.

"The research enterprise under the leadership of Dean Adams has grown and prospered, and I certainly would like to keep that trajectory going. I'd like to make sure I make connections with all the constituency groups that are important and that we involve them as well," Green says.

"We need to put some attention on what are the demands for veterinary graduates and where are the deficiencies to make sure we can produce the right kind of graduate who can fill the needs of veterinary medicine, like mixed-animal practice in rural communities."

A few of the ongoing projects Green will oversee include a new oncology and imaging center and several research initiatives. As for the challenges the economy presents to post-graduate education, Green says she hopes to approach each department to help make a plan.

"The economy has been a big blow to all of us. We need to lock arms and head this thing off together," Green says. "It's never fun but it's necessary. We can come out even stronger at the end if we do it the right way."

Green, who will be TAMU' s first female dean, is ready for all the challenges the position has to offer, says Adams, who held the position 11 years.

"She and I go back a long way, to the University of Missouri. She's an outstanding individual," says Adams. "She's no drugstore cowgirl. She's a real, active equestrian herself, and she's had tremendous experience at the clinical level and at the entire hospital level."

Adams announced his intention to step down as dean a few months ago, saying he would like to return to teaching.

Green, who also is the first woman to have been named head of a large-animal department both at the University of Tennessee (UT) and the University of Florida (UF), now serves as professor and chair of Florida's Large Animal Clinical Sciences department. She also is the chief of staff at UF's Large Animal Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Prior to joining the UF staff in 1996, Green was professor and head of the Large Animal Clinical Sciences department and director of the large-animal hospital at UT, a professor at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine and Middlebush Equine Center, assistant professor at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine Center for Clinical Sciences and a private practice partnership owner in Mississippi.

Green also served as the first woman president of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians and the American Association of Equine Practitioners. She earned her DVM from Auburn University in 1973, and her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida. She is a diplomate with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.