AAVMC director Heider to retire

WASHINGTON — Dr. Lawrence Heider, executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), plans to retire, effective Aug. 31.

The AAVMC board of directors will begin a search for his replacement this month.

The former large-animal practitioner and Ohio State University graduate joined AAVMC as the group's leader in 2002. Heider oversaw federal legislative efforts to benefit the capacity of veterinary medical education, established a program to increase DVM diversity and initiated long-range research and planning exercises to forecast the profession's future.

Heider plans to remain active in organized veterinary medicine and academia: "My retirement from this job isn't the end of a career, it's just the start of a new chapter," he says.