Award Recipients Recognized at 2016 AASV Annual Meeting

March 16, 2016 — 

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) honored five members for their contributions to the association and the swine industry. Dr Tara Donovan, 2012 AASV president, presented the awards at the association’s annual meeting March 1 in New Orleans, LA.

Swine Practitioner of the Year
Dr Luc Dufresne was named 2016 Swine Practitioner of the Year by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians during the association’s 47th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The award is given to the swine practitioner who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to clients.

Dr Dufresne obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Montreal in 1988. Following graduation, he accepted a position as Staff Veterinarian with Shur-Gain in St-Hughes, Quebec, Canada. In this position, his responsibilities included supervision of the health of the Swine Multiplication pyramid and commercial herd. In 1990, he transitioned into the role of Swine Consultant with Shur-Gain in Brossard, Quebec, Canada where he supervised the veterinary staff and was the health advisor for the company’s internal swine production unit as well as a customer network of 50,000 sows.

Dr Dufresne moved to Warsaw, NC in 1997 to become the Director of Health Services at Brown’s of Carolina. He supervised the swine health department and personnel for a 115,000 sow pyramid in North Carolina. Since leaving Brown’s in 2001, Dufresne served as a Technical Services Veterinarian for Boehringer Ingelheim and Pig Improvement Company before joining Seaboard Foods as the Director of Health Assurance in 2004.

Dr Dufresne joined AASV in 1989. He received the Al Leman Science in Practice Award from the University of Minnesota in 2014.

Asked to comment about receiving this award, Dr Dufresne replied, “I am truly honoured to receive that award. Being a swine veterinarian has been a wonderful and rewarding carreer. I want to thank my wife and family that support me throughout my career and all the veterinarians, producers and swine production specialists that I had the chance to work and interact with during the last 28 years. It is their willingness to share their knowledge that allows me to do what I do today.”

Dr Dufresne and his wife Genevieve reside in Kansas City, MO. They have three children: Edouard, William and Thomas.

Howard Dunne Memorial Award
Dr Scott Dee received the American Association of Swine Veterinarians’ 2016 Howard Dunne Memorial Award during the association’s 47th Annual Meeting February 29 in New Orleans, LA. The award recognizes an AASV member who has made important contributions and provided outstanding service to the association and the swine industry.

Dr Dee was born in Rochester, MN and gained exposure to the research opportunities in veterinary medicine working on the Mayo Clinic research farm. He received a master’s degree in veterinary microbiology in 1985 and his DVM in 1987, both from the University of Minnesota. Following graduation, Dee practiced for the next twelve years in a swine-specific practice in Morris, MN. While in practice, he earned board certification in veterinary microbiology (1993) and obtained a PhD in veterinary medicine from the University of Minnesota (1996).

Dr Dee left practice in 1999 to join the swine medicine faculty as an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. While at the university, he conducted research in the areas of PRRSV transmission and biosecurity. He served as a Full Professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine from 2005 until he left the university in 2011 to accept his current position as the Director of Research for Pipestone Veterinary Services in Pipestone, MN. Currently, he oversees the Pipestone Applied Research division, as well as conducting research in the areas of air filtration and PEDV transmission & biosecurity.

Dr Dee has received numerous awards including the AASV Swine Practitioner of the Year award (1996), the AD Leman Science in Practice award (1996), the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Distinguished Alumnus award (1996), the AVMA Practitioner Research award (1998), University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Incentive Awards (1999 & 2000), University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Mark of Excellence Award (2005), University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Pfizer Award for Research Excellence (2007) and the Gustavus Adolphus College Distinguished Alumni Certificate in Veterinary Medicine and Sesquicentennial award (2012). Dr Dee has served on the AASV board of directors and as president of the association in 2006.

When asked what it meant to him to receive the Howard Dunne Memorial Award he responded, “I am both honored and humbled that my peers would consider me for this award. It is also highly motivational and will re-energize me to continue to bring value to the AASV membership and the swine industry. I have a great deal of work left to do.” Dr Dee, his wife Lisa and their two children, Nicholas and Ellen, live in Alexandria, MN.

Meritorious Service Award
Dr Patrick Webb was named the 2016 recipient of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians’ Meritorious Service Award. The award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the AASV.

Although born in Idaho, Dr Webb spent his formative years in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. He had his first exposure to swine production while attending Scattergood Friends School in West Branch, Iowa. The school maintained a 100 sow farrow to finish operation. He earned his DVM degree from Iowa State University in 1998. He joined Red Oak Veterinary Clinic in Red Oak, Iowa following graduation where he practiced for a year. In 1999, he left Red Oak to join Stuart Veterinary Clinic in Stuart, Iowa prior to opening his own veterinary consulting and contracting service in 2001. Webb served as the Assistant State Fair Veterinarian at the Iowa State Fair for a number of years and worked for Iowa’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship as Foreign Animal Disease Program Coordinator, where he developed the department's emergency preparedness plan for animal disease disasters. He joined the National Pork Board as Director of Swine Health, his current position, in 2005.

Throughout his career, Dr. Webb has worked extensively on emergency preparedness and planning at the local, state and federal levels. He has developed and delivered numerous educational programs directed at training producers, veterinarians, county emergency managers and first responders on how to respond to foreign animal disease disasters. Dr Webb joined AASV in 2006. He currently chairs the AASV Foreign Animal Disease committee.

When asked to comment about receiving the award, Webb responded, “It is truly an honor to receive this award from such a prestigious association. I greatly appreciate the recognition and this award will always rank as one of the most significant events in my career.”

Dr Webb and his wife, Sherrie, reside in Dexter, IA with their newborn son Bennett.

Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award
The American Association of Swine Veterinarian’s Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award was presented to Dr Chase Stahl during the 47th Annual Meeting of the AASV in New Orleans, LA. It is given annually to an AASV member five or less years post-graduation who has demonstrated the ideals of exemplary service and proficiency early in his or her career.

Dr Stahl is a 2012 graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He was raised on a farm near Clarion, Iowa where his parents, Nick and Kathy still reside. Although his family did not raise livestock, he was fortunate to have the opportunity to assist friends and neighbors with their livestock operations. It wasn’t until a summer job at Iowa State’s Diagnostic Laboratory that he became determined to pursue a career in swine veterinary medicine.

Dr Stahl spent his first year following veterinary school practicing as a staff veterinarian with Iowa Select Farms. In 2013, he joined the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic in Fairmont, MN where he and his 7 partners and 2 associate veterinarians focus on serving swine and beef producers in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Dr Stahl has the great privilege of assisting many independent swine producers with their health, production, marketing, and nutritional needs. He takes immense pride in getting to know his clients on a personal level, listening to their needs, and developing and implementing a plan; all grounded in the understanding that the pig has to come first in whatever decision is made.

Dr Stahl has been a member of AASV since he began veterinary school in 2008. He is an active committee member on the AASV’s Student Recruitment Committee and has helped organize the annual National Pork Industry Foundation veterinary student internship program. This program focuses on providing first and second year veterinary students with an opportunity to gain more swine veterinary experience through a month long mentorship program alongside a practicing swine veterinarian. He and his wife Summer are also board members on the local Martin County Pork Producers chapter.

At acceptance of the award, Dr Stahl commented, “I am very humbled and deeply honored to be the recipient of this award. The swine industry and AASV have provided me a unique opportunity to build professional and personal relationships with many producers and employees. I am extremely grateful to my wife, my parents, former mentors, and the FVC/PCM family for their guidance and support during the last four years. I am also infinitely indebted to all the producers and employees who have made me a better veterinarian by challenging me to approach any recommendations from both a producer and veterinarian perspective.”

Dr Stahl and his wife Summer reside in Fairmont, MN along with their two yellow Labradors, Kia and Stella.

Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award
Dr Bob Thompson received the American Association of Swine Veterinarians’ Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award during the association’s 47th Annual Meeting on February 29th in New Orleans, LA. Established in 2008, the award recognizes swine industry veterinarians who have demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in delivery of veterinary service to their companies and their clients as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Dr. Thompson was recognized for his years in technical service at Pig Improvement Company. Since joining PIC in 1991, he has served numerous roles, initially as Manager of Transportation and Supply Chain, then as Production Manager of PIC’s Owned Production in the Eastern USA, Western Region Contract Multiplication, Health Assurance and currently Health Services for North America. His current title is Coordinator of Health Services for North America. In this role, he works with PIC’s other Technical Service teams to improve performance of their products in customer systems.

Dr Thompson has worked extensively with the PIC Affiliate and User Group Boar Stud system and served as an Adjunt Professor at the University of Illinois in the Integrated Food Animal Management Systems (IFAMS) program. Achievements in his tenure at PIC have been conversion of PIC’s Owned and Multiplication System from 98% PRRSV positive to 100% negative, establishment of two PRRS negative genetic nucleus herds from positive sources in the late 90’s along with the Production and Health Assurance team at the time. In 2008, he had the opportunity to work with the establishment of Apex as a new genetic nucleus in South Dakota.

Dr Thompson has been influential in coordinating research with Universities on inactivation of PRRSV and PEDV virus in transportation trailers using disinfection and heat, termed Temperature Assisted Drying and Decontamination (TADD). Previously he received two Technical Service awards from PIC’s Global Technical Service Team.

Dr Thompson was born in Huron, SD but spent his formative years in Sioux Center, IA. He received his DVM from Iowa State University. Following graduation, he joined the Columbus Veterinary Hospital in Columbus, NE focusing on mixed animal. Later purchasing a practice in Osceola, Nebraska. In 1989, he was accepted into the IFAMS program at the University of Illinois before joining PIC in 1991.

Dr Thompson currently serves on the Trucker Quality Assurance Advisory Board and the Swine Health Committee for the National Pork Board. He was also recently named to the newly formed Secure Pork Supply Implementation Taskforce.

When asked to comment on what the award meant to him, Dr Thompson said, “It is an honor to be recognized by your peers for working in the industry. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the leaders of our time in practice, industry and research. My goal has been to share my knowledge along with other PIC team members to help our customers be more successful, ultimately doing what’s right for the pigs.”

Dr Thompson and his wife, Debra, reside in Franklin, Kentucky. They have two daughters Kasey and Leslie.