An Iowa State University professor is the new dean of Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Thomson

John U. Thomson, section leader for production animal medicine at Iowa State's College of Veterinary Medicine, began his new duties at MSU July 15.

Thomson was responsible for teaching, research, and continuing education for the production medicine section of the ISU veterinary college, where he had been a faculty member for two years.

For seven years prior to that, he headed the veterinary science department and directed the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at South Dakota State University, where he also spent three years as an extension service veterinarian.

Thomson, who was in private veterinary practice in Iowa for 20 years before entering higher education, was chosen in a nationwide search. He replaces H. Dwight Mercer, who retired this spring after 12 years as dean of the MSU veterinary college.

"Dr. Thomson has significant experience in land-grant universities in Iowa and South Dakota," said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs David Cole. "He understands the vital role of a major research and teaching institution in agricultural states like Mississippi."

Thomson was South Dakota's Veterinarian of the Year in 1993.

He received bachelor's and doctor of veterinary medicine degrees from Iowa State in 1965 and 1967, respectively, and completed a master's from Northwest Missouri State University in 1988.