Born and raised an Auburn man, Calvin Johnson will become the seventh dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Johnson is transitioning from his previous position as department head of pathobiology to become the new dean of a college that has a 121-year legacy.
"It was just an extremely fortunate opportunity for me," Johnson said. He steps into the position already experienced, as he served as interim dean for 17 months before being selected as the permanent dean.
"I had the 17 months of experience and realized this was a tremendous opportunity to really serve veterinary medicine and to serve Auburn," Johnson said. "I'm excited to be pursuing it."
He's no stranger to the Auburn area as he was born in 1961 raised in Auburn and the son of a former faculty member.
He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Auburn finished with a doctorate of veterinary medicine and made his way to North Carolina to practice.
After only practicing a year, he returned to school, attending North Carolina
State University where he conducted a residency in pathology through the Ph.D program there.
He then became board certified in pathology and took his expertise to the University of Florida where he was on faculty for 11 years.
In 2003, Johnson made his return to Auburn to join the faculty and teach pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
His concentration focuses on disease of animals and how they correspond to other species and even to humans.
"My interest in that was certainly for diseases of animals, but also the comparison of animal diseases and human diseases. That's really my background," Johnson said.
Currently, he's researching a particular type of HIV in cats, called feline immunodeficiency virus.
This research is not only helping him understand the virus among animals, but also how it affects young children across the world.
Dr. Johnson must direct the academic portion of the college, but also correspond with directors to maintain the veterinary hospital and clinical science programs.
Johnson isn't new to the department and received endorsement by a majority of the staff.
"Dr. Johnson brings a breadth and depth to this position that is essential for leading a college," said Frank Bartol, associate dean of research and graduate studies. "He's an extremely dedicated and approachable professional. He's engaged in forward thinking of all aspects of our academic and research mission here at the college."
Johnson is determined to lead the college into the future through maintaining high levels of research and quality academics.
"He's a very student oriented individual and really cares about both populations of students at the vet school," said India Napier, second year Ph.D student in biomedical sciences.
Johnson is prepared to continue the 121-year legacy of the college through his position as dean. "We want to make sure that education is as high quality as it can be because we have an excellent reputation for training veterinarians at Auburn," Johnson- said.
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