Dr. Lori Teller, a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in canine and feline practice and clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, assumed the presidency of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) with a pledge to strengthen the profession through collaboration and a focus on wellbeing.
“The AVMA is here to protect, promote and advance the veterinary profession,” Dr. Teller told the AVMA’s House of Delegates on Friday at the organization’s annual convention. “This is what we do every single day, and we are really good at it because our focus is on you, the veterinarian.”
“Nourishing all parts of our complicated selves makes us better veterinarians—and better people,” Dr. Teller said. “So, from one human being to another, let’s work together to be role models for wellbeing, for dignity, for kindness and for respect. As president of the AVMA and its first mom to serve in this role, I will work hard to build bridges, increase our collaborative efforts and continue to focus on improving veterinary medicine for all of us.”
“We have real issues that the AVMA continues to address and tackle,” Dr. Teller told the delegates, adding: “We also have much to celebrate, and I want to make sure we remember that, too. So, when I have the opportunity to meet with you and our colleagues, be sure to tell me about your concerns, and be sure to share with me your joys and accomplishments because I also want to celebrate those.”
Dr. Teller is a clinical associate professor of telehealth at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (TAMU), from which she graduated in 1990. Last year, she was elected to serve as AVMA’s president for the 2022-2023 term.
Dr. Teller practiced for several years at Meyerland Animal Clinic in Houston before joining Texas A&M University’s faculty in 2018. She was a founding board member of the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative and is a former chair of the AVMA Board of Directors.
For many years, Dr. Teller has been involved in organized veterinary medicine at the local, state and national levels. She has served in the AVMA House of Delegates, AVMA Board of Directors and on several AVMA committees and task forces, including the Animal Welfare Committee and as chair of the State Advocacy Committee.
AVMA President-elect 2022-2023: Dr. Rena Carlson
In its return to an in-person convention for the first time since 2019, the AVMA’s House of Delegates on Friday elected Dr. Rena Carlson, a former AVMA Board of Directors chair, as 2022-2023 AVMA president-elect.
A 1989 graduate of Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Carlson will succeed Dr. Teller as AVMA president next summer during the AVMA Convention in Denver.
“There are so many challenges, but we have so many opportunities and I’m very excited to help with each challenge,” she said. “It’s an honor to work with the Board of Directors, with the House of Delegates, and with AVMA staff and really support and advance the important initiatives they are working on.”
“I always say I’m standing on the shoulders of giants that have come before me and have built such an amazing, strong association. I’ll do my best to continue that legacy and to build and grow that foundation,” Dr. Carlson said.
In 1993, Dr. Carlson became co-owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Pocatello, ID, which grew into a mixed-animal practice employing six practitioners. At the same time, she also held a part-time position in academia as the attending veterinarian in the AAALAC International research facility at Idaho State University.
Dr. Carlson has held numerous positions with the Eastern Idaho VMA and Idaho VMA. She served in the AVMA HOD as the Idaho alternate delegate and delegate for 10 years. From 2014-2020, Dr. Carlson served on the AVMA Board and was Board Chair during her final year. During her board tenure, she chaired both the Legislative Advisory Committee and the Strategy Management Committee.
Dr. Carlson sold her practice in 2018 and has since worked as a relief veterinarian as well as a general practice mentor for National Veterinary Associates.
AVMA Board Chair 2022-2023: Ronald E. Gill
Following a year of service as vice chair of the AVMA Board of Directors, Dr. Ronald E. Gill, a longtime mixed-animal practitioner in West Salem, IL, was elected as board chair for 2022-2023.
Dr. Gill has many years of experience in organized veterinary medicine at both the state and national levels, beginning with the Southern Illinois Veterinary Medical Association (SIVMA). He later represented SIVMA at the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association (ISVMA), where he held various leadership roles that culminated in his service as ISVMA president.
An alumnus of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Gill has served on multiple entities within the AVMA, including the Council on Veterinary Services and the Governance Performance Review Committee, both of which he chaired for two years. He was also vice chair of the Council on Education.
Dr. Gill sold his practice, Gill Veterinary Clinic, in 2019 to one of his associates. Dr. Gill continued to work at the practice, now called Three Rivers Veterinary Clinic, through 2021 and is now retired.
AVMA Board Vice Chair 2022-2023: Chuck Lemme
Dr. Chuck Lemme, elected Sunday as Vice Board Chair, has been a small-animal practitioner since graduating from Iowa State University in 1975. He started his career as an associate veterinarian at Bramer Animal Hospital in Evanston, IL, where he became involved in organized veterinary medicine, serving as a committee chair and then as a board member of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association.
In 1985, Dr. Lemme and his family moved to Cedar Rapids, IA, where he bought a small-animal practice and practiced until his retirement in 2018.
Dr. Lemme has served as president of the Midwest Small Animal Association and as an area director for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Dr. Lemme’s involvement with AVMA began in 2005 when he was selected to be the AAHA representative on the AVMA’s Clinical Practitioner’s Advisory Committee to the Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents (CPAC).
AVMA Vice President 2022-2024: Jennifer Quammen
Dr. Jennifer Quammen was elected as the 2022-24 AVMA vice president. She was the sole candidate for the position. Dr. Quammen is a 2011 veterinary graduate of Ohio State University and an alumna of the AVMA Future Leaders Program. She has served on a number of AVMA entities, including the Council on Veterinary Service, the Practice Advisory Panel, and the Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee.
