Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine names new dean

After a national search, Kansas State University has announced that Tammy Beckham, DVM, PhD, will be the next dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, according to a university release. Beckham will assume her post Aug. 2.

Beckham is currently the director of the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), at the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence in College Station, Texas. She has led the IIAD's efforts to perform research and develop products to defend the nation from high-consequence foreign animal, emerging and zoonotic diseases since 2010.

According to the release, Beckham is chair of the Foreign and Emerging Disease Committee of the United States Animal Health Association and has served on committees within animal health and veterinary diagnostics associations throughout the United States. She also has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Services. She has also served as the director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL), an agency of the state of Texas and member of the Texas A&M University System.

With her experience in infectious diseases and pathology, Beckham may prove crucial to overseeing the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a Biosafety level-4 facility that is in the construction phase on the Kansas State campus.

"It was very important for Kansas State to hire a Dean of Veterinary Medicine with Dr. Beckham's extensive experience in infectious disease and pathobiology," says April Mason, PhD, provost and senior vice president of Kansas State University. "We anticipate she will be a very central part of planning Kansas State's position as NBAF progresses."

A magna cum laude graduate of Auburn University, Beckham earned her DVM degree in 1998 and holds a doctorate in biomedical science from Auburn as well. She received her doctorate in 2001 while also serving as a captain in the U.S. Army. She served at the Army's Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Maryland, where she helped improve techniques for detecting deadly pathogens such as Ebola, according to the release.

In the past, Beckham was director of the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York. While there, she managed the diagnosis of animal diseases, oversaw diagnostic test development for a nationwide animal health diagnostic system and coordinated efforts with the Department of Homeland Security, the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and other agencies, according to the release.

Beckham has authored publications appearing in the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Journal of Comparative Pathology and Laboratory Investigation, among others. She acts as a subject matter expert at international meetings and maintains partnerships with international scientists and world reference laboratories, the release states.

She will succeed Ralph Richardson, who served as the College of Veterinary Medicine's dean since 1998. Richardson will transition to a faculty position at the college.