Veterinary institutions hire academics as deans

NATIONAL REPORT - 11/04/05 - The University of Georgia (UGA) and University of Pennsylvania (Penn) have named deans to run the institutions' respective veterinary medical programs.

Starting Jan. 1, Dr. Joan Hendricks, VMD, PhD, will head Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, succeeding Dr. Alan Kelly, who is stepping down after 11 years. Hendricks, a Penn faculty member for more than 20 years, is the Henry and Corinne R. Bower Professor of Small Animal Medicine and section chief of critical care in the Department of Clinical Studies. She also is founding director of the Veterinary Clinical Research Center and holds an appointment as professor within the institution's Department of Medicine.

Dr. Sheila Allen has served as a UGA interim dean since March 1, following the retirement of Dr. Keith W. Prasse. Effective immediately, Allen is now the college's permanent choice to head UGA's College of Veterinary Medicine. She's the college's former associate dean for academic affairs and acting head of the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery. Like Hendricks, she's served more than 20 years in the veterinary medical college.

"I'm always pleased when we find the best leadership here at home, among our own faculty," UGA President Michael Adams says in a prepared statement.