Eleanor Green is a University of Florida alumna, former UF department chair and hospital chief of staff, and now dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.

“I loved my time at UF as a student and then later as a faculty member,” Eleanor said. “As a student, I believe I received an excellent education overall with the livestock and meats judging teams being highlights. These extracurricular activities afforded learning experiences proven today to be exceedingly effective – high-impact hands-on learning, peer-to-peer learning, learning by doing, real-life experiences. In addition, the relationships and memories are lasting.”

“Veterinary medicine was always a natural choice for me growing up in a medical family with my passion for horses, riding, and competing,” she said. “I have always related to the quote attributed to Confucius, ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.’ How many can say that there has never been a single day when they were not excited about going to work? I can. Veterinary medicine has provided the joy of helping animals, people, society, and our world.”

Eleanor graduated from the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) with a bachelor’s in animal sciences and went on to Auburn University to obtain her DVM. In 1996, she returned to the UF College of Veterinary Medicine as professor and chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and chief of staff of the Large Animal Hospital. She was the first woman to serve in these two administrative roles at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine.

“I could not turn down the offer to return to my home state of Florida to work in a veterinary college the caliber of UF,” she said. “As is true broadly, ‘people make programs.’ The UF faculty, staff, and students were phenomenal. We had fun working hard together to take the department and hospital to even greater heights. This process was enhanced by vital connections across campus, throughout the state, within the profession, and especially with the agricultural commodity groups, like the equine industry, the livestock industries, and aquatic animal health.”

In 2004, she received the CALS Alumni and Friends Award of Distinction in recognition of her outstanding accomplishments. In 2009, Eleanor took her current position as the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Her accomplishments while at UF and with universities across the country are numerous and her passion for innovation and the future of veterinary medicine is sure to leave an impact for years to come.

About this Series:

The year 2020 commemorates the centennial year of the passage of the 19th Amendment, a crucial achievement in the women’s suffrage movement. This milestone reminds us of the collective spirit marshaled to enact this change. Throughout the year, UF/IFAS is highlighting female researchers, educators, staff members, students and innovators who embodied a similar trailblazing spirit during their engagement with the university. These trailblazers left an indelible mark on both the university and the state of Florida.      

The 19th Amendment states, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” although some women were still denied the right to vote until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s. We hope this series inspires others to ignite their own trailblazing spirit and effect change in our world.

0