Julie Legred, CVT is the new Executive Director of the Winn Feline Foundation. The announcement was made in September 2018 and is now formal as Vicki Thayer, DVM, DABVP retired effective December 31, 2018.
Julie Legred, CVT
Legred has held leadership positions in veterinary medicine throughout her career. Most recently she served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, where she was instrumental in elevating the status of technicians and supported the current transition to be called veterinary nurse. She represented over 15,000 veterinary technicians/nurses around the country.
As Dr. Thayer’s retirement was announced, her many accomplishments were recapped:
- Established October 20th as Cures for Cats Days, plus the focus this year with
campaign on Feline Kidney Disease.
- Established scholarships for veterinary students with a feline medicine interest with
the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) and American Association of
Feline Practitioners (AAFP).
- Established the New Feline Investigator Award (now named for former Board
member Fred Jacobberger).
- Streamlined and updated the Winn Feline grant proposal practices/policies
/procedures.
- Supported many new education opportunities from veterinary conferences
to speaking with cat owners to promote the work Winn Feline funds.
“It is truly a bittersweet moment as I look forward to my retirement as Executive Director for Winn Feline Foundation at the end of 2018,” says Thayer. “I am very proud of my accomplishments, along with everyone associated with Winn over our 50 years in advancing Winn’s mission and feline medicine. I am also confident Julie Legred and the Board of Directors will continue the vision of every cat, every day benefits from Winn funded research.”
Under Dr. Thayer at the last review cycle, Winn funded over $500,000 in total funding to studies of cat health and behavior, which includes unowned outdoor cats and shelter cats.
“On behalf of Winn Feline Foundation board of directors, I would like to acknowledge and extend our appreciation for the amazing work done by Dr. Vicki Thayer for the time she was the Foundation’s Executive Director.” says Board President Dr. Glenn Olah. “She put in endless hours working on projects in the past four years that have truly taken the
organization to a higher level. Through her diligence, she-motivation, dedication and leadership, Winn’s experienced phenomenal growth in meeting its mission to advance feline health by supporting research and education thereby helping every cat, every day.”
2 Comments
This message is for Julie Legred.
Julie: I am so very proud of you; you are the epitome of how a Veterinary Technician can continue to recreate themselves and continue to make huge strides in our profession. Congratulations of this huge life time achievement!!
All the very best!
Karen
We agree! I will be sure to share this with Julie as well!