Interview with M. Ward Crowe, May 13, 2016

Interview Summary

Born October 22, 1931 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, Crowe graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1953 with a BS in Agriculture. He got his DVM degree from Auburn University in Alabama in 1957. After being in private practice and working for the Pfizer Company from 1957-1964, he began work as Assistant Veterinarian in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky in 1964 to 1966. He was Assistant Professor (1966-1970), Associate Professor (1970-1976), and Professor (1976-1988) in the Department. From 1988-1996, Crowe was the University Veterinarian, with oversight of all animals used in research at UK. Major areas of research and service included teaching animal science courses; terratology (research on deformed fetuses, including deformities in pig fetuses caused by tobacco); head of the pre-veterinary program under contract with Auburn University; and the veterinary Pathology Lab (post-mortems on animals, especially horses). He is married to Joan Thompson Crowe and has two children. All three are UK alumni.

Interview Keyword

Animal rights Animal welfare. Animal science courses Auburn University's veterinary science master's program Pathologists Post-mortem exams on horses Teratology Fetus deformities Pig fetus Alkaloids in tobacco Animal Care Committee UK Veterinarians Edwards Company "Adaptahorn" electric buzzer University of Kentucky Memorial Coliseum Poisonous plant research Utah State University Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS) Tent caterpillars Zika virus Skunk cabbage Frank Ramsey Animal rights activists PETA Wenner-Gren Biomedical Engineering Lab vibration studies Research animal protocols Faculty title series

Interview LC Subject

College environment College teachers--Social conditions College teaching. Education, Higher--Kentucky Educators Universities and colleges--Faculty. University of Kentucky Pet medicine. Veterinarians Veterinary medicine.

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.