The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Alumni Association recently presented four alumni with service awards during its 53rd Annual Veterinary Conference and Alumni Weekend. Specifically, the awards recognize alumni contributions to animal and human health-related public service; involvement in the local community, state or nation; veterinary educational research and/or service to veterinary associations at various levels; contributions to the college’s alumni association; and professional service. This year’s recipients are Stephan Schaefbauer, DVM, of Ankeny, Iowa, as young achiever; and Walter T. Stinson, DVM, of Wilkesboro, N.C., Lisa K. Nolan, DVM, Ph.D., of Ames, Iowa, and Rebecca E. Stinson, DVM, of Reidsville, N.C., as distinguished alumni. Dr. Schaefbauer graduated from UGA in 2006. She then pursued a master’s degree in public health and a residency at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Animal Health. Near the end of her program, she was hired as a veterinary medical officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in St. Paul. In 2008, she moved to the APHIS office in Raleigh, N.C., where she served for two years an import risk analyst and four years as an epidemiology officer. During her last two years in the region, Schaefbauer also worked as an adjunct assistant professor at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, according UGA. In 2014, she left Raleigh to join the APHIS office in Des Moines, Iowa, where she continues to serve as an epidemiology officer in Iowa and Wisconsin. Schaefbauer currently serves on the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine. Past leadership positions include president of the American Association of Food Safety Veterinarians and vice president of education for the Centennial Toastmasters, according to UGA. She also serves on the AVMA Diversity Taskforce and the Taskforce and the AVMA 20/20 Commission. Dr. Walter T. Stinson, who graduated cum laude from UGA in 1957, established the Animal Hospital of Wilkes shortly after graduation. Through his practice, Stinson has helped educate farmers as well as local students on managing cattle, treating livestock for parasites, keeping them free from disease and providing them with good nutrition. Among his accomplishments: serving in the U.S. Army, being inducted into the Wilkes County Agricultural Hall of Fame and earning the status of Deacon Emeritus at Wilkesboro Baptist Church. Dr. Nolan, who became the Dr. Stephen G. Juelsgaard Dean of Veterinary Medicine and the 15th dean of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in January 2011, is an award-winning researcher in the area of E. coli-caused diseases of animals and people. She has given numerous invited presentations, authored refereed journal articles and book chapters and garnered millions of dollars in research funds, UGA noted. As a teacher and academic adviser, she was named Distinguished Educator of the Year in 2001 by North Dakota State University’s Blue Key National Honor Society. She received numerous accolades during her time on faculty at NDSU and, in 1999, founded the university’s Great Plains Institute of Food Safety. In 2003, Nolan joined Iowa State University as chair of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, serving in that capacity until 2008, according to UGA. She also served as executive chair of its College of Veterinary Medicine; associate dean of academic and student affairs; and as associate dean of research and graduate studies. Nolan is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Avian Pathologists, American Society for Microbiology and International Society of Plasmid Biology. She serves on the editorial review board of Avian Diseases and as associate editor of Diseases of Poultry. Dr. Rebecca E. Stinson, vice president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, graduated from UGA in 2002. She served with the Student American Veterinary Medical Association, first as secretary, then during her clinical year, as president. The core of her professional world, as UGA described, is as an equine practitioner in North Carolina, where she is a founding member of the Carolina Equine Hospital, located in Browns Summit and established in 2009. Since 2009, Stinson has taught at Averett University, in Virginia, as an adjunct professor of equine anatomy and physiology. She has served as a member of the UGA Veterinary Alumni Association board since 2013. Among other accomplishments: serving on the board of directors for Horsepower Therapeutic Learning Center for six years, representing the veterinary community as a member of the Rockingham County Board of Health and Human Services, serving the American Association of Equine Practitioners as a member of its Student Relations Committee, and serving the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association as its large animal committee chair since 2005.
