MANHATTAN — Following a national search, Bonnie Rush has been selected as the new dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University.
Rush, who has been serving as interim dean of the college since 2017, was appointed by Charles Taber, provost and executive vice president. Her appointment begins June 16, according to a media release from the University.
“Dr. Rush emerged as the clear leader following a competitive national search process. With her strong history of leadership for the College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Rush is the right choice to lead this college and its vital teaching, research, service, and outreach programs into the future,” Taber said. “The college not only supplies the state of Kansas, the nation and the world with highly trained and skilled veterinarians, it is also a leader in infectious disease research that affects both animals and humans.”
Rush will be charged with leading the college on a variety of fronts, including program development, faculty and student development, research, teaching and extension, program accreditation, diversity and the 2025 plans for both the college and the university.
The college has three academic departments, two service units — the Veterinary Health Center and Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory — and is home to a number of prestigious research centers and units, including the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases, Beef Cattle Institute, Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases and the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. The college’s professional degree program provides broad training opportunities across a comprehensive range of companion and exotic animals, and livestock species.
“It has been an honor to serve as the interim dean,” Rush said. “The students, faculty and staff of the College of Veterinary Medicine are tremendously talented and committed to advancing the missions to strengthen animal health and well-being through research, education and service. I look forward to honoring the traditions of the college, while working together to create new opportunities for the future.”
A professor of internal equine medicine, Rush’s area of clinical expertise is equine respiratory disease with an emphasis on respiratory physiology, immunology and aerosol drug therapy. She co-authored the book “Equine Respiratory Diseases” with Tim Mair from the Bell Equine Clinic, Kent, U.K.
Rush began her career as a faculty member at Kansas State University in 1993. She served as the head of the clinical sciences department from 2006 to mid-2017. She has been a core course coordinator, led curriculum reform and maintained responsibility for clinical outcome assessment. She is committed to the scholarship of teaching and has authored or co-authored more than 20 manuscripts in the Journal of Veterinary Education on effective instructional practices, communication training, and student welfare.
The recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Department Head in 2014, Rush also earned the 1996 and 2003 Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award, the 2002 Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, the 2004 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year and the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University.