UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Timeline

The Beginning Years (1946 - 1975)

1946

The University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine is founded in response to continued interest in re-establishing an accredited veterinary school in Georgia, and also in response to the number of World War II veterans enrolled at UGA under the GI Bill who wanted to pursue an education in veterinary medicine.

1947

Governor M.E. Thompson approved part of the income from the sale of 5-year driver’s licenses to be used for the construction of the new veterinary school building. 

1950

On May 18, the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education granted accreditation status to the UGA SVM. The accreditation came just in time for the SVM’s first graduating seniors — 44 men and one woman — to qualify for state licensing exams.

1953

The new School of Veterinary Medicine building is dedicated. Previous to the building's construction, the SVM was scattered throughout various other building and temporary classrooms on campus.

1956

The Student AVMA hosted the very first Open House event. 350 people of all ages attended and were given an interactive tour of the new building.

1957

The UGA SVM is selected by the Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commissioners as the site for the Southeastern Cooperative Deer Diseases Study, which was later renamed the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, or SCWDS.

1957

The Poultry Disease Research Center, which would later become the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center, opens a new facility, which included a diagnostic laboratory. The Center’s early research priorities included: control procedures for fowl cholera, vaccine development, and the microbial factors involved in hatching and raising chicks.

1963

Dr. J. T. Mercer (DVM ’50) returns to the SVM faculty to become director of continuing education, the first CE program of its kind in the United States.

1964

Dr. Fred C. Davison (DVM ’52) leaves his post as assistant director of the Division of Scientific Activities of the American Veterinary Medical Association to become the second dean of the UGA SVM.

1964

In May, the SVM offered its First Annual Conference for Veterinarians, held at the Georgia Center. It was attended by 93 veterinarians from 13 states.

1970

The Board of Regents approved changing the name of the SVM to the College of Veterinary Medicine, in response to the school’s expanded graduate, research and service programs.

1970

The non-thesis Master of Avian Medicine degree program is approved, which provides specialized training in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of poultry diseases. The program is the first-of-its kind in veterinary colleges in North America.

1970

Researchers at PDRC and the CVM develop an effective vaccine against Marek’s disease, saving Georgia’s poultry industry an estimated $28 million annually.

1972

The Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is established in July to serve the needs of livestock and pet owners in North Georgia.

1973

The Institute of Comparative Medicine, a new wing of the CVM building, opened in January and became home to the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. It was constructed for about $1.6 million, with funding provided by the state and a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The ICM — designed to expand the CVM’s interdisciplinary research enterprise in the area of comparative medicine — helped position the CVM as a research institute in the realm of One Health.

1973

The first issue of the Aesculapian is published in January 1973. Still being published today, the magazine is the CVM's longest running news publication.

1975

The small animal clinic accepted its first class of animal technician students to train in clinical areas for six months; the students came from a program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, launched in September 1974. In 1976, an animal technician program began at Fort Valley State College, and the CVM entered into a similar training agreement for their technician students.

UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Timeline

The Beginning Years (1946 - 1975)