Source: AgriLife Today
On Sept. 3, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents named Dr. Bruce L. Akey interim director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. Akey began as executive deputy director at the lab in June of this year.
“Dr. Akey has many years of outstanding leadership in veterinary diagnostics,” said Dr. Bill Dugas, acting vice chancellor and dean for Texas A&M AgriLife. “I am pleased to have Dr. Akey’s experience and expertise to guide TVMDL forward in ensuring both animal and human health for Texas.”
For six years, Dr. Tammy R. Beckham served as the lab’s director, and since 2010, also directed the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Center of Excellence affiliated with Texas A&M AgriLife Research. In August, she announced her intention to leave the lab to become full-time director of the institute.
“We wish Dr. Beckham well in her full-time role as IIAD director,” said Akey. “She set a precedent for excellence and growth within TVMDL, where the diagnostic services we offer clients continue to grow and adapt to the needs of the livestock and companion animal industries. As interim director, I intend to continue that work to serve the state of Texas.”
A graduate of the College of William and Mary with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Akey also holds a master of science in parasitology from the University of Florida and a doctorate of veterinary medicine from the University of Minnesota. He served three and a half years as assistant state veterinarian for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, was the chief of the Office of Laboratory Services at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for 13 years, and was in private clinical practice for four years prior to that. From 2006 through mid-2014, Akey served as assistant dean for diagnostic operations and the executive director of the Animal Health Diagnostic Center in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.
An agency of the Texas A&M University System, the veterinary diagnostic lab operates in College Station, Amarillo, Center and Gonzales.
For more information on the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, visit  http://tvmdl.tamu.edu.