Recognition Awards
K-State Veterinary Medical Alumni Association Recognition Award to Dr. Sam Graham
A state public health veterinarian and alumnus of
the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine will be
honored this month for his service to his profession and for being
an exemplary role model.
Dr. Samuel L. Graham, Kingman, KS., has been named by the College
of Veterinary Medicine and its Veterinary Medical Alumni Association
to receive an Alumni Recognition Award. The award will be presented
by Dean Ralph Richardson at a reception on Aug. 27 during the
Central Veterinary Conference in Kansas City, MO.
Graham has been employed by the Kansas Department of Animal Health
since 1988. As a state field veterinarian, he is responsible for
investigating reports of livestock disease and works with county
officials to quarantine and eliminate the disease. Currently, Graham
spends about half his time working with 23 counties in southwest
Kansas to establish local emergency management response teams. The
teams are trained to isolate and control disease in the event of an
animal disease outbreak.
After receiving his doctor of veterinary medicine degree in 1959,
Graham joined the United States Army Veterinary Corps, serving as
the officer in charge of the animal colony’s division of laboratory
and surgery at the Army Chemical Center in Edgewood, MD. In 1961,
Graham returned to Kansas where he operated a large animal
veterinary practice in Kingman for 27 years.
He said he enjoyed his many years in private practice and still
values the efforts of the local veterinarians who help state
officials maintain animal health in Kansas. “I don’t think there is
anything more rewarding than general practice because you are on the
front line,” Graham noted.
Graham received foreign-animal disease training at Plum Island, New
York, where he studied major livestock diseases such as brucellosis,
tuberculosis, pseudorabies, scrapie and infectious anemia. During
Graham’s tenure with the Kansas Animal Health Department, the three
primary animal diseases – brucellosis, tuberculosis and pseudorabies
– were eradicated from the state. Kansas is now ranked in the top
five states in the country in regard to animal disease preparedness.
“The fact that we can see results from what we’re doing in disease
control and eradication is rewarding,” Graham said.
Graham has been involved in many professional and civic
organizations during his career. As a member of the Kansas
Veterinary Medical Association, he has held offices as South-Central
District Trustee, and served as chair for the Ethics and Food Safety
Committee. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical
Association and a former member of the American Association of
Bovine Practitioners. Graham is also the editor of the Animal Health
News, a quarterly newsletter informing state livestock producers of
regulations relating to the industry on state, national and
international levels.
Graham and wife of 47 years, Dorothy, are active members of the
First Presbyterian Church of Kingman. In his free time, Graham
enjoys woodworking, golf, fishing and most importantly, spending
time with his family.