November 15, 2020
UC-Davis veterinary school dean to step down
Dr. Michael Lairmore announced that he will step down as dean of the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in June.
During his nearly 10 years as dean, Dr. Lairmore oversaw research, service activities, and funding for the veterinary school. He also increased mental health support by creating a counseling and career service center; launched the $500 million Veterinary Medical Center campaign to expand the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, which has raised more than $100 million; led efforts to increase research support at the veterinary school; and increased the infrastructure and academic support for the One Health Institute, which received more than $200 million for programs such as the Predict project to detect zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential.
Dr. Lairmore has served as president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and as a member of the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and he holds a doctoral degree in experimental pathology. He is a fellow with the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences.
Dr. Lairmore is also board certified in veterinary anatomic pathology and veterinary virology and immunology. He has done research that focused on the biology of human retroviruses and viral-associated carcinogenesis. He has authored or co-authored 190 scientific publications.
He came to UC-Davis via The Ohio State University, where he served as an associate dean for research and graduate studies at its College of Veterinary Medicine as well as an associate director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the university.
Dr. Lairmore will take a sabbatical and then continue his career as a professor of pathology in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology.