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Alumni Recognition Award Given to Dr. James Coffman at Orlando Meeting
Dr. James Coffman, current provost and professor of clinical sciences at Kansas State University, has served as a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Kansas State University, where he directed the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and was head of Surgery and Medicine. He was dean of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine before becoming provost in 1987. He also spent five years in private equine practice in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before finally getting settled in his academic career. Coffman has authored or co-authored more than 120 scientific papers and one book and has served as an editorial board member or editor of five major journals. Recently, he chaired a National Research Council Board on Agriculture subcommittee on the use of drugs in food-producing animals. He was president of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine 1978-79 and president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners in 1986. He served on the AVMA Professional Liability Insurance Trust from 1978 to 1985 and was chairman in 1980 and 1982. He currently serves on the American Association of Equine Practitioners Ethics Committee. In addition, he has held numerous elected positions in national scientific and professional organizations. He recently served on the Faculty Policy Review Project, a collaborative group sponsored by five national higher education organizations. He served on the Council on Academic Affairs Executive Committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges through 2000. Current active professional organization memberships include: the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Association for Higher Education, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association. Locally active in community organizations, he is a past Rotarian and board member, former board member and board chair of St. Mary Hospital in Manhattan. He is also a member of the Kansas Livestock Association and is a member of the First United Methodist Church of Manhattan. Dr. Coffman has been honored as Norden Distinguished Teacher at the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine and with memberships in Phi Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi and Gold Key honor societies. He is also one of ten founding members of the National Academies of Practice, Veterinary Division. As chief academic officer at K-State, Coffman's interests include developing flexible approaches to the application of faculty time and talent; rethinking the academic reward system so that outstanding research and teaching are recognized and rewarded; as well as service and development of intellectual property. This includes specific interest in how these issues interact with professional development of faculty, staff and administrators. He is supportive of rethinking general education in order to create a system that provides students with methods and techniques of learning, as well as an understanding of how knowledge grows and changes so that they can be life-long learners. Dr. Coffman is a native Kansan
from Lyndon. He and his wife of 42 years, Sharon, live in Manhattan and
have raised three sons, David, Michael and Scott. |
