11/14/95

Sam Hendrix (334) 844-3698

ASSISTANT DEAN AT AU RECEIVES NATIONAL SERVICE AWARD

AUBURN -- Gary Beard, assistant dean for continuing education at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine, has received the 1995 Peter Emily Service Award for promoting veterinary dentistry.

Beard, a 1959 Auburn veterinary graduate and native of Leeds, received the highest award given by the American Veterinary Dental College, of which he is a charter diplomate.

Beard, who practiced veterinary medicine in Louisiana for 32 years before returning to Auburn in 1992, was among a group of four veterinary dentists who in the early 1980s began teaching veterinary dentistry throughout the United States and Canada. The group ultimately took this new area of veterinary medicine to Europe, Japan and Australia.

The group -- which also included human dentist Peter Emily -- helped to organize and found the American Veterinary Dental Society, the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry and the AVDC. Beard has been president of the Society and the Academy.

An adjunct professor at Louisiana State University and Mississippi State University Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Beard has authored three book chapters on veterinary dentistry.

He is a former president of the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association and a former executive secretary and treasurer of the Louisiana State Board of Veterinary Medicine.

nov95:AU-beard

CONTACT: Beard, 334/844-3699