Class Notes
1940s
1942
Charles Raker received a commendation from the Pennsylvania State Senate—sponsored by Senators Andrew Dinniman and Mike Brubaker; the certificate is awarded to “those citizens who, through dedication and excellence, contribute in a meaningful way to the well-being of their communities and ultimately to all the people” of Pennsylvania.
1944
Mary Clark Keiser has written two novels: The Secret Lives of Doctors and Mary,Mary, Quite Contrary (a murder mystery based on her time as a student at Penn Vet). She is working on a third book,Mary, Mary, Do Be Wary, in which the action starts the day she graduated from veterinary school.
1950s
1959
In 1997, Uri Bargai was awarded an honorary distinction of merit at the Annual Conference of the Israel Dairy Cattle Sciences for his lifelong contribution to the promotion of the Israeli dairy industry. Dr. Bargai is professor emeritus at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine at the Hebrew University in Israel.
H. L. Todd Addis has completed A Backward Glance: Hounds, Horses, Veterinary Medicine. "The memoirs of Dr. Addis portrays a childhood of hard work and play and an adult life of veterinary practice, hounds, horses, and the sport of fox-hunting in Chester County, Pennsylvania. There are 88 chapters that Dr. Addis wrote during the past twelve years. Many of his experiences are laced with humor. There are over 100 pictures and sketches of family, friends and animals that he touched. Doc's late mother and friend Cookey McClung spice up the memories with verse and vision."
1960s
1965
Seth Koch recently produced an instructional video, Parotid Duct Transposition in the Dog. Considered an expert in the area of parotid duct surgery, Dr. Koch is a member of the Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group in Brooklyn, N.Y.
1970s
1972
In June 2008, Catherine Walleigh Carnevale retired after 34 years of service with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She was director of international affairs at FDA’s the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and served as the country’s lead delegate to the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Import/Export Inspection and Certification Systems. Dr. Carnevale also was the FDA’s lead foods negotiator in the North American Free Trade Agreement and in the Uruguay Round negotiations that resulted in the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in 1994.
1974
Theodore B. Robinson was selected by the American Veterinary Medical Association to receive the 2008 Meritorious Service Award for the volunteer project involving veterinary care on Native American reservations he began eight years ago, in which PennVet students still participate.
1977
The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) has appointed Christian E. Newcomer as executive director. In this position, Dr. Newcomer will serve as the chief executive officer of AALAC International. Dr. Newcomer currently is associate provost for animal research and resources and associate professor in the Department of Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University.
1979
Sydney M. Evans has been accepted into the year-long Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine SM Program for Women at Drexel University for 2009.The program is the nation’s only in depth program focused on preparing senior women faculty at schools of medicine, dentistry and public health to move into positions of leadership. Dr. Evans, also an M.D., is a faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn Medicine.
1980s
1981
Ted Spinks started an expansion and renovation of his Animal Hospital of Sussex County in Augusta, NJ. The hospital will double in size to 6,400 square feet.
1982
In October 2007, the The Class of 1982 collectively endowed a student scholarship as their class gift, and served as the first 25th reunion class to raise $100,000 to support students into perpetuity.
1984
Stephen J. Peoples has been elected to membership in the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA), Class of 2008. The AOA is the oldest orthopaedic surgery professional association and represents the top 5% of academic, research, and clinical leaders in orthopaedic surgery. Dr. Peoples is currently Vice President of Graduate Medical Education at the DePuy, Inc. group of Johnson & Johnson companies where is directs collaboration with orthopaedic surgery residency programs and fellowship Graduate Medical Education training programs in joint replacement, trauma, hand surgery, spine, sports medicine, and neurosurgery.
1985
Jamie Thomson was elected into the National Academy of Science for being a pioneer in his field and his success in culturing and maintaining human embryonic stem cells. Membership in the Society is considered one of the greatest honors for a scientist or engineer. Earlier this year, Dr. Thomson was appointed director of the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Ava Logan is an award winning singer-actress from Washington, D.C., who now lives in the Chicago area. A graduate of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Logan is a veterinarian by day and a jazz singer at night. The classically trained vocalist has performed jazz, pop, and rhythm and blues in the U.S. and abroad! She has portrayed two of her idols, Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson, at the Black Ensemble Theater. She most recently produced a CD with Henry Johnson, who played guitar for Joe Williams for many years. She worked with world renowned musicians on this project, Larry Novak (who has played for Nancy Wilson, Natalie Cole and Sarah Vaughn) on piano, Larry Gray on bass, and Leon Joyce on drums (the latter two gentlemen presently of the Ramsey Lewis trio).
1986
Spencer A. Johnston, formerly professor of veterinary medicine at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, has been appointed the Edward H. Gunst Professor in the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. The Gunst Professorship was established in 1995 by Richard and Joanne Moyer of Richmond, Va., honoring a long-standing relationship the Gunsts have had with the College.
1988
In September 2007, Gregory A. Lewbart, professor of aquatic animal medicine at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine was named Exotic DVM [VMD] of the Year during the AVMA Convention in Washington, DC. The award is presented annually to an individual embodying the essence of stewardship of exotic companion animal species, contributes to the education of veterinary students and clinicians and serves as international ambassador of goodwill for the exotic animal profession.
1990s
1990
Marian Siegel was named Good Doctor of the Year by the Maryland Veterinary Medical Association for her work with feral cats. The award is given in recognition of outstanding leadership, dedication and continued commitment to the veterinary profession, namely her involvement in the rescue of feral and tame unwanted cats and kittens and mentoring to numerous high school students. Dr. Seigel works at the Metropolitan Cat Hospital in Owings Mills, MD.
1992
In April, Patty Hogan opened a new clinic, Hogan Equine LLC at Fair Winds Farm in Brattleboro, VT. Dr. Hogan also will continue to work at the Ruffian Equine Medical Center at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. She is perhaps best known for saving the eye of Smarty Jones after he seriously injured himself at Philadelphia Park Racetrack in 2004. Earlier this year, the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., honored Dr. Hogan with the “Spirit of the Horse” award, which recognizes people whose lives have been profoundly changed due to their involvement with horses and who have acknowledged the impact on their lives by giving back to horses or the horse industry.
1997
In March 2008, Alisa Siceloff gave birth to Savannah Isabella Siceloff. Dr. Siceloff has two other children, Alexis and Rex.
Bonnie Shope recently passed the boards in veterinary dentistry and is now a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College. Dr. Shope works at Veterinary Dental Services in Acton, MA.
Amy Bentz is appointed veterinarian manager of the Professional Service Center of Veterinary Learning Systems, a division of MedMedia USA, Inc. Dr. Bentz, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, also serves as equine chair for the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association’s Scientific Program Committee. In 2005 she received an award for the Most Outstanding Equine Abstract from the International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society. Since 2006 Dr. Bentz has served as a National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow at PennVet.
2000s
2000
Anne E. Hessinger recently finished a two month internship with the World Organization for Animal Health at its headquarters in Paris, France. Dr. Hessinger became board certified in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine in June 2007. She has been promoted to the rank of major in the U.S.Army and is awaiting her next assignment as a civil affairs veterinarian.
2003
Alison Joy Abramson married Matthew Adam Hasson on January 19, 2008. Dr. Abramson is associate veterinarian at the Park East Animal Hospital in Manhattan. Mr. Hasson is an associate specializing in mergers and acquisitions at the CIT Group, a commercial and consumer finance company in Manhattan.
2004
Cailin Heinze has begun her first year of a small-animal clinical nutrition residency at the University of California at Davis.
2008
The French Creek Veterinary Hospital in Pottstown, Pa., and its sister hospital, the County Companion Animal Hospital in Morgantown, Pa.,announced the hire of Casey Kurtz, whose professional interests include orthopaedic surgery, dermatology and ophthalmology.
In Memoriam
1936 Earl W. Cook on February 21, 2008.
1941 Robert J. Lerch on January 7, 2008.
1941 John P. Ruffing on November 9, 2007.
1942 George Conrad on December 5, 2007.
1943 John Douglas “J. D.” McCullough on July 6, 2008.
1946 Seibert L. Berlin on January 3, 2008.
1947 Humberto Zayas-Chardon on November 30, 2007.
1951 James Francis Wright on January 10, 2008.
1952 Raymond J. Widmann, Sr., on April 17, 2008.
1952 James Madison Newman on May 22, 2008.
1954 Richard Post on August 13, 2008
1959 Marvin Norcross on September 11, 2007.
1959 Bruce Schmucker on May 31, 2008.
1960 John Del Favero on October 7, 2008.
1962 Michael Radovic on March 12, 2008.
1963 Clayton Kimble on June 20, 2008.
1966 Joseph W. Ciccarelli, Jr., on April 12, 2008.
1968 Kenton Stokes on April 23, 2008.
1969 James J. Boswell on January 11, 2008.
1973 Mark A. Bronstein on October 16, 2007.