Congratulations to the 2017 OVCAA Award Winners!
Each year, the OVC Alumni Association highlights the accomplishments and contributions of a few of our outstanding alumni.
The OVCAA Distinguished Alumnus award recognizes OVC graduates who have brought honour to their alma mater and fellow alumni through their contributions to alumni affairs, education, community, their profession, country and the sciences. The OVC AA Young Alumnus award recognizes alumni who have made a significant contribution in their field within 15 years of graduation. The OVC AA Alumni Volunteer award celebrates OVC graduates who bring honour and recognition to the College by giving generously of their time within the college, in their community or veterinary organization.
OVCAA Distinguished Alumnus: This year’s recipient, Dr. Neil Anderson, graduated with his DVM degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1967 and with his Master of Science in Epidemiology in 1987.
Dr. Anderson was a practitioner at, and owner of, Cheltenham Veterinary Services in Inglewood, Ontario from 1972 to 1983, and then became Lead Veterinarian, Disease Prevention (Ruminant) at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs from 1983 to 2014.
During his career, Dr. Anderson provided exemplary extension-oriented research information, service, and teaching to the Ontario beef and dairy industries as a practicing veterinarian and then as extension veterinarian with OMAFRA. For example: he was advisor to the OVC Dairy Health Management Certificate Program continuing education program to veterinarians, which has enabled the rapid dissemination of new ideas and technology to the profession and the dairy industry; he authored the first Livestock Medicines Education Course manuals and commodity-specific educational programs for producers that increased producer awareness about issues related to antibiotic use; and he developed relevant regional performance targets for beef producers and their advisors.
His work was founded on the strong correlation between animal welfare and animal productivity and he promoted the appropriate use of medication in livestock, the best designs for housing systems for dairy cattle, and he crusaded for optimized feeding systems for dairy calves. Through his writing, lectures, and farm visits in Ontario, across Canada, and internationally he has always passionately advocated for the humane treatment of animals.
Dr. Anderson has a real talent for helping people see common problems and husbandry practices in an entirely different way, then help them implement practical solutions. The entire Canadian livestock industry has benefited from his work.
Young Alumnus Award: This year’s recipient, Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton, graduated from OVC with her DVM degree in 2000 and her PhD in Epidemiology in 2005. Since 2007, she has been an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Medicine in OVC and she is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Waterloo’s School of Public Health and Health Systems. At OVC, Dr. Jones-Bitton has coordinated, taught in, and contributed to the design of a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in epidemiology, both in the classroom and by distance education. She has also contributed to the development and delivery of lectures in mental health and wellness in the first year DVM course Art of Veterinary Medicine I and in the development and delivery of a new 4th year wellness rotation for DVM students. Much of Dr. Jones-Bitton’s research has focused on food-borne, waterborne and zoonotic diseases, and on public health where she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to achieve her research objectives. Her newest research focus is the epidemiology of mental health and resilience in the agricultural and veterinary sectors and she is a national leader in studying this very important area of public health. Her research work thus far has resulted in the publication of 60 articles in refereed journals, 113 publications in referred conference proceedings, and 118 presentations of refereed papers. She has also broadly and passionately communicated her advocacy in the area of mental health and wellness and her commitment to Canadian agriculture and veterinary medicine, in the popular media.
Alumni Volunteer Award: This year’s recipient, Dr. Mark Gemmill, class of OVC 1993, has always demonstrated the qualities that this award seeks to recognize.  Dr. Gemmill was a founding member of the Farley Foundation, a charitable organization that helps pet owners with limited incomes to receive the non-elective veterinary care that their sick or injured pets require. Not only did he serve on the Farley Foundation’s Board of Directors from 2002 to 2015, but he also served as President for eight of those years. Dr. Gemmill is a common sight on the front lines of fundraising efforts as well, frequently participating in the Ride for Farley, the Farley Foundation Golf Tournament, and the Fundraise for Farley Month with his entire hospital team. He regularly represented the Farley Foundation to the media and public, appearing on CP24’s Animal Housecalls and various radio shows. Beyond his involvement with the Farley Foundation, Dr. Gemmill has been a staple of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association. He served as a Board of Directors member from 2000 to 2016, and as the OVMA’s President in 2015. Dr. Gemmill’s altruism extends to OVC as well. An avid hockey player, he has sat on the OVC Alumni Hockey Tournament Organizing Committee for many years, greatly helping in the planning, organization, and running of the annual tournament. The one feature beyond all others that makes Dr. Gemmill worthy of this award is his consistent willingness to help. In conversations with many of those involved with the Farley Foundation, the OVMA, and the OVC Alumni Hockey Tournament, that theme repeatedly emerged. Whenever there was work that needed doing, a position that needed a volunteer to fill it, or anything or anyone who could use a helping hand, Dr. Gemmill was always the first to rise to the occasion.
