April 2018 A Page From History column from Texas Veterinaria

Burford, Nancy G.

Texas A&M University

HISTORICAL
A History of Exemplifying Leadership
T he Texas A&M University pur-pose statement reads, “To develop leaders of character 
dedicated to serving the greater good” 
and is defined by six core values: excel-
lence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, 
respect and selfless service. Leadership 
is perhaps the core value most noted of 
Texas A&M students and graduates.
Texas A&M was founded in 1876, 
and until the 1960s, participation in the 
Corps of Cadets was mandatory. Veteri-
nary sciences were taught as part of ani-
mal husbandry courses almost from the 
founding, although the School of Veter-
inary Medicine (as it was then known) 
was not formally established until 1916, 
the same year as the establishment of 
the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. The 
inaugural veterinary class of 13 students 
soon had the opportunity to serve “the 
greater good” in the World War I; only 
four graduated in 1920. It is not known 
how many A&M students served in the 
Veterinary Corps in World War I or later.
In 1963, The Southwestern Veterinarian, 
the journal published by the Student 
Chapter of the American Veterinary 
Medical Association (AVMA), printed an 
article by A.G. Kemler titled, “Veterinary 
Medicine in Texas 1944-1963,” which 
attempted to analyze the career paths of 
Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medi-
cine graduates. Kemler’s data was based 
on information from the college, proba-
bly as declared by graduates upon leav-
ing school. Over the 20-year period, 78 
out of the total 1,136 graduates planned 
to go into military service, 7 percent 
of the total, with the numbers lowest 
immediately following World War II. It 
is interesting to see the numbers rise at 
the end of the period; in the years 1961 
to 1963, 22 percent of the graduates 
went into military service.
Exemplifying military leadership 
from the College of Veterinary Medicine 
are the four graduates who rose to 
become chiefs of the U.S. Army Veteri-
nary Corps. Three of them served con-
secutive terms. Charles V.L. Elia, DVM 
’43, was brigadier general from 1972 
to 1976; Thomas G. Murnane, DVM ’47, 
served from 1976 to 1980; and from 1980 
to 1985, Frank A. Ramsey, DVM ’54, was 
the chief of the Veterinary Corps. The 
fourth was Michael B. Cates, DVM ’80, 
who was chief from 2004 to 2008.
This link between the College of 
Veterinary Medicine and the Army Vet-
erinary Corps made the purchase of the 
John N. Case Jr. Veterinary Corps Col-
lection in 2014 a natural extension of the 
historical veterinary medicine collection 
at the Medical Sciences Library at Texas 
A&M. The collection, which primarily 
spans the 20th century, is an exceptional 
assemblage that includes items from 
50 countries. Almost half of the items in 
the collection are from the United King-
dom and the Commonwealth nations. 
The United States is represented by 
almost 700 items, followed by Germany, 
France, Italy and Russia. These items 
include books, documents, postcards, 
badges, buttons, patches, uniforms, 
instruments and equipment. The items 
range in size from tiny gorget buttons to 
large chests used to transport medical 
supplies. The collection is not limited to 
veterinary corps artifacts but includes 
militaria related to military working ani-
mals and animal care and use, such as 
farriery, pigeon and cavalry items.
A total of 2,630 items are in the 
museum collection, and this does not 
include individual documents in docu-
ment sets or the books in the collection. 
Some of the equipment includes blan-
kets, pigeon vest, large circular pigeon 
parachute drop cage, various chests, 
riding crop from the Camel Corps, 
edged weapons, sad-
dle, helmets, pouches, 
veterinarian saddle-
bags, horse grooming 
equipment, spurs, 
equine gas mask with 
hoses and canister 
holsters and a wooden 
neck cradle.
The Medical Sciences Library recently 
received a donation from the family 
of the late Dr. Murnane including Dr. 
Murnane’s uniforms, flags, papers and 
memorabilia. This generous gift estab-
lishes a direct link between the Case Vet-
erinary Corps Collection and the College 
of Veterinary Medicine’s heritage of lead-
ership in the U.S. Veterinary Corps.
The Southwestern Veterinarian, published 
from May 1948 through 1988, exempli-
fied student leadership at the College of 
Veterinary Medicine. Although a student 
publication, it was no mere newsletter 
but a professional journal published on 
glossy paper. The first issue’s editorial 
ended with “Not strictly a student pub-
lication but a journal by the practitioner 
for the practitioner…This is your publica-
tion, Doctor!” By the end of 1950, it had 
800 subscribers in 35 states. The journal 
was an invaluable resource when writing 
chapters for Celebrating CVM 100 Years 1916-
2016: Serving Every Texan Every Day. 
The Medical Sciences Library would 
like to digitize The Southwestern Veteri-
narian to make this historical content 
publicly accessible. We have a complete 
run of the journal, but our copies are 
tightly bound and difficult to scan for 
digitization. If anyone has journal issues 
they would like to donate for this pur-
pose, please contact the library. 
Nancy Burford is an Associate Professor and the 
Veterinary Collections Curator at the Medical 
Sciences Library of the University Libraries at 
Texas A&M University. She can be contacted at 
979-845-1820 or nburford@library.tamu.edu.
A PAGE FROM 
HISTORY
By Nancy Burford 
TAMU Associate Professor and the Veterinary  
Collections Curator 
April 2018T E X A S  V E T E R I N A R I A N  •  W W W . T V M A . O R G  40
Dr. Murnane’s  
Veterinary Corps hat


A history of exemplifying leadership

Texas A&amp;M Repository

HISTORICALA History of Exemplifying LeadershipT he Texas A&M University pur-pose statement reads, “To develop leaders of character dedicated to serving the greater good” and is defined by six core values: excel-lence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service. Leadership is perhaps the core value most noted of Texas A&M students and graduates.Texas A&M was founded in 1876, and until the 1960s, participation in the Corps of Cadets was mandatory. Veteri-nary sciences were taught as part of ani-mal husbandry courses almost from the founding, although the School of Veter-inary Medicine (as it was then known) was not formally established until 1916, the same year as the establishment of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. The inaugural veterinary class of 13 students soon had the opportunity to serve “the greater good” in the World War I; only four graduated in 1920. It is not known how many A&M students served in the Veterinary Corps in World War I or later.In 1963, The Southwestern Veterinarian, the journal published by the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), printed an article by A.G. Kemler titled, “Veterinary Medicine in Texas 1944-1963,” which attempted to analyze the career paths of Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medi-cine graduates. Kemler’s data was based on information from the college, proba-bly as declared by graduates upon leav-ing school. Over the 20-year period, 78 out of the total 1,136 graduates planned to go into military service, 7 percent of the total, with the numbers lowest immediately following World War II. It is interesting to see the numbers rise at the end of the period; in the years 1961 to 1963, 22 percent of the graduates went into military service.Exemplifying military leadership from the College of Veterinary Medicine are the four graduates who rose to become chiefs of the U.S. Army Veteri-nary Corps. Three of them served con-secutive terms. Charles V.L. Elia, DVM ’43, was brigadier general from 1972 to 1976; Thomas G. Murnane, DVM ’47, served from 1976 to 1980; and from 1980 to 1985, Frank A. Ramsey, DVM ’54, was the chief of the Veterinary Corps. The fourth was Michael B. Cates, DVM ’80, who was chief from 2004 to 2008.This link between the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Army Vet-erinary Corps made the purchase of the John N. Case Jr. Veterinary Corps Col-lection in 2014 a natural extension of the historical veterinary medicine collection at the Medical Sciences Library at Texas A&M. The collection, which primarily spans the 20th century, is an exceptional assemblage that includes items from 50 countries. Almost half of the items in the collection are from the United King-dom and the Commonwealth nations. The United States is represented by almost 700 items, followed by Germany, France, Italy and Russia. These items include books, documents, postcards, badges, buttons, patches, uniforms, instruments and equipment. The items range in size from tiny gorget buttons to large chests used to transport medical supplies. The collection is not limited to veterinary corps artifacts but includes militaria related to military working ani-mals and animal care and use, such as farriery, pigeon and cavalry items.A total of 2,630 items are in the museum collection, and this does not include individual documents in docu-ment sets or the books in the collection. Some of the equipment includes blan-kets, pigeon vest, large circular pigeon parachute drop cage, various chests, riding crop from the Camel Corps, edged weapons, sad-dle, helmets, pouches, veterinarian saddle-bags, horse grooming equipment, spurs, equine gas mask with hoses and canister holsters and a wooden neck cradle.The Medical Sciences Library recently received a donation from the family of the late Dr. Murnane including Dr. Murnane’s uniforms, flags, papers and memorabilia. This generous gift estab-lishes a direct link between the Case Vet-erinary Corps Collection and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s heritage of lead-ership in the U.S. Veterinary Corps.The Southwestern Veterinarian, published from May 1948 through 1988, exempli-fied student leadership at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Although a student publication, it was no mere newsletter but a professional journal published on glossy paper. The first issue’s editorial ended with “Not strictly a student pub-lication but a journal by the practitioner for the practitioner…This is your publica-tion, Doctor!” By the end of 1950, it had 800 subscribers in 35 states. The journal was an invaluable resource when writing chapters for Celebrating CVM 100 Years 1916-2016: Serving Every Texan Every Day. The Medical Sciences Library would like to digitize The Southwestern Veteri-narian to make this historical content publicly accessible. We have a complete run of the journal, but our copies are tightly bound and difficult to scan for digitization. If anyone has journal issues they would like to donate for this pur-pose, please contact the library. Nancy Burford is an Associate Professor and the Veterinary Collections Curator at the Medical Sciences Library of the University Libraries at Texas A&M University. She can be contacted at 979-845-1820 or nburford@library.tamu.edu.A PAGE FROM HISTORYBy Nancy Burford TAMU Associate Professor and the Veterinary  Collections Curator April 2018T E X A S  V E T E R I N A R I A N  •  W W W . T V M A . O R G  40Dr. Murnane’s  Veterinary Corps hat

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A history of exemplifying leadership

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Texas A&M University

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A history of exemplifying leadership

Abstract

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Texas A&M University

Texas A&amp;M Repository

Texas A&M Repository