Record attendance punctuated the 2009 American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) annual meeting held March 7-10 in Dallas, TX.
There were 607 paid registrations and approximately 1,000 total attendees at the conference at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.
“We entered into the AASV meeting this year with guarded optimism and it turned out to be a great meeting and a great site, thanks to our loyal members,” says AASV Executive Director Tom Burkgren.
Thirty countries were represented – the most ever at an AASV annual meeting. There were 140 students representing 17 universities who attended the meeting, taking advantage of free registration and a $200 travel stipend courtesy of Newport Laboratories and the AASV Foundation.
The AASV Foundation auction raised over $67,000 to support programs and projects that benefit the association’s members and students.
New Officers
Rodney “Butch” Baker, DVM, Iowa State University (ISU), assumes the presidency of the AASV, succeeding Kerry Keffaber, DVM, North Manchester, IN, who becomes immediate past president. Baker is a senior clinician in the Food Supply Veterinary Services Unit at ISU.
Paul Ruen, DVM, Fairmont (MN) Veterinary Clinic, becomes president-elect. He has been active in the AASV since 1988.
Randy Jones, DVM, of Kinston, NC, is the newly elected vice president. Jones is the owner and operator of a swine veterinary practice.
Award Recipients
Five AASV members were honored for their contributions to the association and the swine industry as follows:
Michael Pierdon, DVM, was named the Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year. After graduation from Virginia Tech, Pierdon worked at Penn State, worked for a year at the Swine Vet Center in St. Peter, MN, in 2006 and since that time has owned and operated Pierdon Swine Veterinary Services in Elizabethtown, PA.
Al Scheidt, DVM, was recognized as the Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year. The award was established this year to honor swine industry veterinarians for service to their companies and clients. Scheidt is the manager of swine technical services for Pfizer Animal Health and resides in Louisburg, NC.
Rodney Johnson, DVM, received the Meritorious Service Award for outstanding service to the association. Johnson is the chief executive officer of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Professional Liability Trust Association and resides in Aurora, IL.
Kent Schwartz, DVM, was presented the Howard Dunne Memorial Award for contributions and service to the association. Schwartz has served as a veterinary diagnostician in Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Ames, IA, since 1989.
He also co-writes Swine Health Preview, a monthly feature in North American Preview, a weekly e-newsletter of National Hog Farmer magazine. Click here for a free subscription to the North American Preview newsletter.
John Waddell, DVM, was named the Swine Practitioner of the Year, for exceptional service to veterinary clients. Waddell is a food animal practitioner in Sutton, NE, where he has practiced since 1981.
He also is a frequent contributor to Veterinarians on Call, a monthly column which appears in National Hog Farmer magazine.