LOGAN – From the time in March of 2022 when the Utah legislature approved the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine, until this week’s naming of Dirk Vanderwall as the inaugural dean of the college, it is apparent he was a popular choice.
In his announcement of Dr. Vanderwall to the new position, USU Provost Laurens H. Smith said the appointment will be in effect July 1.Eliz
USU President Elizabeth Cantwell said the first dean of a new college is critical in setting a successful trajectory for years to come and she thanked him for accepting the challenge.
Vanderwall has been interim dean since August, 2022, and before that he served as head of USU’s Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences and associate dean for the School of Veterinary Medicine.
It was while he championed the creation of the state’s only independent four-year veterinary medical program that the Utah Veterinary Medical Association named him 2023 Veterinarian of the Year.
He was recruited to USU in 2012 to help start the Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine, in association with Washington State’s veterinary college.
He holds a doctorate in animal physiology from the University of Idaho and and a second doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell University.