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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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5/3/95                                    Diane B. Clifton

PUROHIT NAMED DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE FACULTY LECTURE AT AU

      AUBURN --   Ram Purohit, a professor in the Department of 
Large Animal Surgery and Medicine at Auburn University's College of 
Veterinary Medicine, has been named the 1995 Distinguished Graduate 
Faculty Lecturer.
      Purohit, a member of the AU faculty since 1971, will speak on 
"Recent Advances in Infrared Thermography: Its Applications in Veterinary 
and Human Medicine" at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 8, at Broun Hall, Room 238. 
The public is invited.
      The award, sponsored by the Graduate School and the Auburn Alumni 
Association, represents excellence in an overall research and teaching 
program, particularly the recipient's relationship with graduate students.
      "The selection is made by a committee of Graduate Council, and 
the award recognizes an individual who, over a sustained period of time 
has rendered outstanding service to the entire graduate program of the 
university," said John Pritchett, interim dean of the Graduate School. 
added. "Dr. Purohit has demonstrated his long service and commitment to 
our graduate program and to our graduate students." 
      
      Purohit has been principal or co-investigator on grants totaling 
more than $1.5 million, and 30 of his former students have earned 
advanced degrees and are involved in the large animal health profession 
at various levels throughout the country.
      
      "My work is very rewarding, but the most enjoyable aspect of it 
is the association with the students," he says.
      A native of India, Purohit earned his doctor of veterinary 
medicine degree at Rajasthan in India and his doctorate in physiology at 
AU in 1974. In 1980 he earned diplomate status within the American 
College of Theriogenologists.
      At Auburn, Purohit has pioneered the use of a diagnostic 
thermography -- a non-invasive, infrared heat detection for assessing 
neuro-vascular diseases in horses, cattle and other animals, including 
human subjects.
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