Texas state veterinarian, TAHC director to retire

Austin, Texas

-- Dr. Bob Hillman will resign Dec. 31 after seven years as Texas state veterinarian.

Hillman also gives up his position as executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC).

As state veterinarian, Hillman oversaw the fight in El Paso against exotic Newcastle disease in 2001, handled the country’s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a native-born cow in 2005 and helped return Texas cattle to tuberculosis-free status in 2006, according to a TAHC spokesperson.

In his 35-year career as a large-animal practitioner, Hillman has worked in private practice in Texas and Idaho, where he previously served 13 years as state veterinarian.

“I have wrestled with the decision to retire, but it is time to put family first,” Hillman told TAHC commissioners.He plans to return to Idaho to be with children and grandchildren and to stay involved in anima-health projects, but without the “constant travel, agency management and endless work hours,” according to a TAHC spokesperson.