Iowa State dean to step down to become faculty

Ames, Iowa

-- After more than 20 years in college administration, John Thomson, DVM, will retire as dean of Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine Jan. 1, 2011.

Thomson will now join Iowa State's veterinary faculty as a clinical epidemiologist and focus on outcomes-based medicine and best practices for food animal care.

The committee to search for a new dean should be established in March. Administrators hope to have a new dean in place when Thomson's retirement becomes effective.

Before joining Iowa State University as dean in 2004, Thomson had been dean of Mississippi State University's veterinary college since 1999. He earned his D.V.M. from Iowa State in 1967, worked in private practice for 20 years, and served for more than 20 years in school administration at South Dakota State University, Mississippi State, and Iowa State.