Celebrating Great Women In Veterinary Medicine
In honor of Women’s History Month, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is celebrating women in the veterinary profession. Of special note, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our parent company, Germinder + Associates, Inc. is Dr. Mary Beth Leininger, the first woman president of the AVMA and a 2018 Germinder20 Power of Pink Honoree. We were honored to work with Dr. Leininger while she was at AVMA and in celebrating the veterinary profession during her tenure at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. Dr. Leininger’s story was featured on Goodnewsforpets.
Dr. Mary Beth Leininger, the first woman president of the AVMA, graduated from veterinary school in 1967.
According to the AVMA, as recently as 1975, women made up only 5 percent of the profession, with no women serving among AVMA’s officers, executive board, or councils, and only one woman serving in AVMA’s 126-member House of Delegates. By 2010 women made up roughly 50 percent of the profession and today, approximately 61 percent of U.S. veterinarians are women, and 6 of the 15 members of the AVMA Board of Directors and 58 of the 140 members of the AVMA House of Delegates are women. Today, Dr. Lori M. Teller is AVMA president and expect even more women AVMA presidents in the future.
The AVMA is thankful for these groundbreaking and world-changing veterinarians, and for all of the women who have helped pave the way for the veterinarians protecting human, animal, and environmental health today.
With so many veterinarians graduating from veterinary schools today, expect even more fabulous women to make their mark in leadership. – Editor’s note.
Updated from an earlier post.
Dr. Mary Beth Leininger Named Germinder20 Power Of Pink Honoree