Dr. Reginald George Thomson (1934–2002)

The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island wishes to pay a special tribute to its founding dean, Dr. Reginald George Thomson, who passed away on December 14, 2002, in his hometown of Woodstock, Ontario, after a protracted illness. Reginald Thomson was born on a dairy farm in Woodstock, Ontario, on April 7, 1934. In high school, he drove a green pickup truck with a big picture of a Jersey cow on the side. With this truck, he would call for Helen Ure, a town girl and his future wife. As a student at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), University of Toronto, in Guelph, Ontario, Reg was determined to succeed in academics, and in extracurricular activities. For example, he was active in the OVC and Campus Student Councils, as well as in coaching his class football team. He graduated from the OVC in 1959 and worked in a mixed practice in Fisherville, Ontario, for 2 years. Dr. Thomson returned to the OVC and worked under Dr. Ken Jubb to earn the MVSc degree in Pathology in 1963. He continued his graduate training at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and obtained his PhD under Dr. Ken MacEntee in 1965. That same year, he became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and was appointed associate professor at the OVC, University of Guelph. Within 2 years, he was promoted to full professor; then, in 1969, he was elected chairman of the Department of Pathology, a position he held for 10 years. During the Guelph years, Reg published extensively and supervised many graduate students in pathology. He published the 1st edition of General Veterinary Pathology in 1976. Towards the end of 1978, Dr. Thomson was granted a 3-year leave of absence from the OVC to explore the possibility of establishing a veterinary school in the Atlantic region. Reg moved to Charlottetown with his wife and Kathy, 1 of their 3 daughters (Joanne and Carol were in university). As planning coordinator for the proposed school, Reg set up office on the UPEI campus in January 1979, first, in one of the university residences and, later, in a renovated swine barn. His task was to persuade Atlantic Canadians of the need for, and the benefits of, a veterinary school in the region, and to come up with a vision of the kind of school it should be. He tackled this task with the kind of single-minded devotion that he had applied to every other cause in his life. In planning the new college, he wrote hundreds of letters and made numerous presentations to universities, bureaucrats, provincial and federal politicians, veterinarians, farmers, fishers, and the media in order to seek their inputs and formulate his vision. He travelled throughout the Atlantic region, sometimes with his family, sometimes with the president of the UPEI, Dr. Peter Meincke, sometimes with staff from the premier's office. During the next 3 years, his vision, determination, and tireless efforts laid the groundwork for the college. When agreements for the college could not be finalized, Reg took up an appointment as professor of pathology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan during 1982 to 1983. The Atlantic Veterinary College was finally established at the University of Prince Edward Island in July 1983 with Reg Thomson as the founding dean. He immediately went to work and, in the next 3 years, guided a team of architects, builders, and, later, veterinary colleagues in putting up a world-class veterinary medical teaching, research, and service facility in Charlottetown (1). Due in no small measure to his national and international veterinary experience, he was able to recruit highly qualified faculty and staff from Canada, the United States, and overseas relatively quickly, in spite of severe shortages in many veterinary disciplines throughout North America at that time. In 1986, 52 students from Atlantic Canada and the United States were admitted to the 1st class. Reg witnessed this class as they began their studies and presented the class for the first DVM degrees from the AVC at the Convocation in May 1990. That same year, the College was granted full accreditation status for the maximum 7-year period by the American Veterinary Medical Association/Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, so faculty, staff, students, and the veterinary community were saddened and shocked when Reg resigned his deanship in July 1990 due to ill health. There were so many ways in which he particularly touched his colleagues, staff, and students and influenced the veterinary profession to which he devoted his life.

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