Dr. Michael Wood, assistant state veterinarian with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets is the 2009 recipient of the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association’s Dave Walker Award. This award was presented to Dr. Wood on June 18th by the Association during their recent summer meeting in Burlington. David Walker was a Vermont veterinarian who exemplified the highest standards of veterinary medicine in a rural setting most every day of his life. He was a strong advocate for animal health, agriculture, as well as the well-being of veterinarians themselves. He tirelessly served not only our state association, but the veterinarian profession as a whole.
The Dave Walker Award is not presented annually. Instead, it is offered only when the activities, energy, and contributions of a single Vermont veterinarian selflessly and continuously, year after year, go above and beyond the call of duty. Dr. Wood was nominated and unanimously selected by a decade of prior Dave Walker Award recipients.
Dr. Wood was raised on the family dairy farm in Saratoga County, New York and received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1969 from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. Upon graduation, he joined Middlebury Large Animal Clinic, where he practiced for five years before establishing the Cornwall Large Animal Clinic in Cornwall, Vermont. During Dr. Wood’s career in large animal ambulatory practice, he provided services for large dairies and smaller producers and livestock owners in Addison and Rutland Counties. Under Dr. Wood’s and his partner’s, Dr. Robert Taylor, ownership, Cornwall Large Animal Clinic’s steady growth necessitated the addition of five more veterinarians and facilitated a merger that eventually resulted in the formation of Valleywide Veterinary Services, a practice that still services the livestock industry of this area.
Dr. Wood’s additional professional accomplishments include having served as chairman of the Vermont Board of Veterinary Medicine and as president of the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association. In 2003, Dr. Wood retired from general practice and sought employment with the Agency of Agriculture as the assistant state veterinarian where he continues to serve Vermont producers and the state’s agricultural industry with the same dedication that he displayed in private practice. In addition to his role with the agency, Dr. Wood serves on the Board of the Vermont Veterinary Medical Association, where he is involved in making decisions that affect the veterinary membership as well as the clients and animals that they serve. The only thing that exceeds Dr. Wood’s commitment to veterinary medicine is his commitment to his family, his wife Nancy, three daughters, and six grandchildren.
