A man who has made it his mission to
improve the national health of sheep,
swine and goats is the recipient of the James H. Meyer Distinguished
Achievement Award from the UC Davis Academic Federation.John Glenn, a veterinarian with Veterinary Medicine Extension, will be awarded the honor Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the 23rd annual achievement dinner at the University Club.
The James H. Meyer Award is presented to a member of the Academic Federation to recognize exceptional career achievement by its members and is based on a distinguished record in research, teaching and/or public service.
"Dr. John Glenn is the state resource for sheep, swine and goats in the state of California and has been for years," said his nominator, Don Klingborg, assistant dean for public programs and director of Veterinary Medicine Extension in the School of Veterinary Medicine.
"He continues to be one of the most effective specialists in the animal commodities subject matter area and is a master at working with the constituents in these three commodities."
In addition, Klingborg said Glenn is one of the four North American experts in flock certifications and scrapie disease control. In regards to the usually fatal disease, scrapie, Glenn led a national campaign for its control.
The UC Davis alumnus has been a small-ruminant veterinarian with the Cooperative Extension Service since the position was created in 1984.
"I love my clientele (animals, extension people and livestock producers)," he said. "The advisors and the people in the livestock industry are among the finest folks I've ever met, and I feel very honored to have such a close working relationship with them."
Active in the state and national sheep industries, Glenn has been awarded the California Wool Growers Association "Golden Fleece" award and the American Sheep Industry Association "Camp Tender" award.
During the time he has been with the extension service, Glenn spent two years directing the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The program has projects at sites in the United States, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco and Bolivia. "He is sensitive to the diverse group of people with whom he interacts, relating well to a wide variety of cultures," said Barbara Webster, who served as associate vice chancellor for research while he was director. "He has engendered loyalty in the employees who report to him and instilled confidence through his leadership among principal investigators, the various SR-CRSP advisory committees, and U.S.-AID personnel. The latter think he walks on water."
The path to Glenn's current position has included work in private practice as well as for higher education. He received a bachelor's degree in entomology followed by a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from UC Davis, and then was hired as an ambulatory clinician at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia. Following a stint in private practice in eastern Oregon, he returned to the University of Georgia to complete his doctorate in medical microbiology.
He joined the faculty at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for four years and then started an agricultural management consulting business with an economist for Western U.S. clients.
During the Persian Gulf crisis, Glenn, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, was recalled to active duty for three months to serve as an environmental health officer. In his reserve officer capacity he now consults for the Clinical Investigation Facility at Davis Grant Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base.
In a life that has offered him "unique and usually hilarious events," Glenn said that he's come to appreciate the University of California as a truly world-class institution and employer.
"I feel very lucky to work here, although I must admit that at times things happen that cause me to be speechless with disbelief (a true feat for an extension person!)."
