Pascoe honored for leadership, mentorship, surgical skills
Dr. John R. Pascoe was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Alumni Excellence Award this year by the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, for his “unwavering commitment to advancing veterinary education, the veterinary profession globally, and academic leadership.”
Dr. Pascoe is a former associate executive dean at the University of California-Davis (UC-Davis) School of Veterinary Medicine, which he retired from this year after 40 years as a faculty member.
Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Pascoe collaborated with local animal shelters to provide spaying and neutering to mitigate overpopulation and other surgical procedures to increase adoption, and in doing so, helped shelters increase adoption rates and support the development of community-based surgical rotations for veterinary students.
Dr. Pascoe has successfully trained 34 surgical residents, five doctoral candidates, and four postdoctoral fellows, and guided the surgical training of thousands of veterinary students during his time at UC-Davis.
In addition, he has forged paths that have created important roles for veterinarians such as advising governments across the United States, Asia, and Africa. He also facilitated pandemic preparedness and response systems in more than 30 countries, according to a university announcement.
A 1975 veterinary graduate of the University of Queensland, Dr. Pascoe completed internship and residency training in equine surgery at UC-Davis and earned a PhD in comparative pathology. He joined the veterinary faculty in 1983.
Dr. Pascoe was a professor of surgery, former chair of the Department of Surgery and Radiological Sciences, and former chief of the Equine Surgery and Lameness Service. He is also a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Dr. Pascoe served two years as editor-in-chief of Veterinary Surgery, the journal of the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgeons.
Dr. Pascoe is a past member and a past chair of the AVMA Council on Education and has also served on the AVMA Committee on International Veterinary Affairs.