Practitioner of the Year Dr. Kent Glenn
by Marisa Plumb
The winner of the tvma practitioner of the Year Award for Career Achievement is deserving of this honor for several reasons. Dr. Kent Glenn’s accomplishments are a combination of his experiences, talents, and convictions as they have developed over many decades of hard work.
Dr. Glenn, a native Texan, is a practitioner, an advocate for animal rescue and disaster preparedness, and a teacher. He earned his degree at Colorado State University (CSU) and then returned to his home state to practice.
Born in Amarillo in 1946, Dr. Glenn cites his background and high school teachers as the founders of his passion to practice veterinary medicine. He lived in Dimmitt, Texas until he started high school in Clovis, New Mexico, where his interests as a student built off of his farming background. Teachers in his high school encouraged him to refine those interests.
“Dr. Kraus at Clovis High School,” Dr. Glenn said, “worked with [Future Farmers of America] FFA and other high school programs and cared for our animals.” Dr. Kraus’ influence and the learning opportunities he brought to Dr. Glenn’s high school experience impacted his professional future. An agriculture teacher at the school, Mr. Turnbough, was also a mentoring figure.
Dr. Glenn started on a formal path to become a veterinarian when he returned from military service to finish his B.S. in Animal Science at Texas Tech University in 1970. “Friends like Jerry Black (now a DVM in California, who went to the same high school as myself, TTU, and later CSU) and Gary Fambro (a DVM friend at Texas Tech) were also part of my decision,” he added.
As an undergraduate at TTU, veterinary instructors Drs. Harbaugh and Wohler further inspired Dr. Glenn’s decision to pursue his veterinary degree.
Dr. Glenn spent part of his college career (1967-1969) working at Purina in Fort Worth while accumulating college hours at the University of Texas at Arlington. He said, “I developed a fondness for North Texas during that time.”
Upon completing his degree at CSU, Dr. Glenn moved back to Texas to start a mixed animal practice in Graham. On top of running his thriving practice, Dr. Glenn helped to establish the first humane animal shelter in Graham, which continues to shelter pets in Young County and surrounding counties. Dr. Glenn has also continued his personal involvement in animal rescue endeavors in Texas.
Promoting Welfare and Responding to Disaster
Dr. Glenn said, “My view of animal rescue and shelter programs developed as much from my spiritual beliefs as my profession, much of it due to spending my childhood on a farm in a community rich with deep Christian influences.” He said that he feels that “we are responsible for proper management of animals and natural resources.”
At the same time, Dr. Glenn pointed out that the worthwhile endeavor of animal rescue is always tied to politics and personal ideologies, which can frequently manifest uncomfortable situations.
“I have found it necessary to step away at times to rest when people and politics got too extreme. The constant education of the public is one of our greatest challenges in the realm of animal welfare. At the same time, we as a profession must continue to increase our political input concerning animal ownership and stewardship,” Dr. Glenn said, emphasizing the need to balance personal convictions with the world’s political and social spheres.
As many members are aware, Dr. Glenn played a large role in animal rescue in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Despite its tragic effects, Hurricane Katrina brought the importance of the human animal bond, as well as the responsibilities that humans have for animals, to light. Dr. Glenn said the 2005 hurricane season put veterinary concerns about animal health and welfare on the front pages of news media.
“As Americans saw the emotional upset of pet owners, the economic distress of producers, and the public health concerns caused by a large scale disaster, we all, hopefully, learned a very difficult lesson,” he said.
Dr. Glenn added that he was “extremely proud to be a Texan when I saw the response capability we had been preparing put into action. But, the immensity of the Katrina disaster was and continues to be overwhelming in many ways.” Difficulties are complex and widespread, as government and other agencies cannot meet the needs of every person.
Involved in Texas
Dr. Glenn has been involved with TVMA since 1977. He served on the Board of Directors from 1979-1982, and then from 2000-2006. The awards and recognitions that Dr. Glenn has received over the years are numerous and diverse. But he said, “Being recognized by my colleagues with this award far exceeds all others.”
However, it should come as no surprise with all that Dr. Glenn has given back to his profession. Dr. Glenn has been a teacher and mentor to young people in North Texas for many years. He also teaches Animal Science at Weatherford College as a volunteer. Aside from the profession’s formal honors, Dr. Glenn recognizes the rewarding nature of giving back to a community through these kinds of teaching experiences. “Seeing and hearing from kids I worked with over the years has provided me the greatest satisfaction of accomplishing something worthwhile. These accomplishments are representative of the contributions of veterinarians I see helping every community in Texas.”
“I feel great satisfaction when I have influenced young men and women to achieve goals in veterinary medicine and other professions and vocations,” Dr. Glenn said. He is grateful to have helped mentor some of the best and brightest young veterinarians anywhere.
He continued: “I hope that every contact I have had with a high school or animal science student left a true impression of our dignified, honorable, knowledgeable, and essential profession.”
When queried on the current state of the veterinary profession, Dr. Glenn said that he does not feel that the community of veterinary medicine is threatened by increasing specialization in the profession. He said that given the many developments in veterinary medicine that have occurred over the last thirty years, the specialization is necessary. He pointed out that Texas has been transformed from a rural, primarily agricultural state to an urban state with most of the population two or more generations removed from agriculture.
Dr. Glenn’s perspective on current and future changes in the veterinary profession is as encouraging as it is thoughtful: “Over the last fifty years, our economy has evolved from an agrarian society to a service and technological powerhouse. Our profession must continually assess and re-structure itself to provide all of the needed services and at the same time maintain its commitment to our agricultural roots. This diversity requires even more specialization, and we are so few that our professional relationships and interdependence will be strengthened.”
And Dr. Glenn is an individual with a lot of faith in the veterinary medical community; he said it has been an important source of enrichment throughout his education and career.
In 1984, Dr. Glenn’s flourishing career was rerouted by multiple sclerosis. At that time, he said that Dr. Gary Fambro, Dr. Paul Lillard, Dr. Glenn Rogers, Dr. Tim Odom, Dr. John Hayes, and Dr. James Gieb encouraged him to maintain his license and provided him with the physical means to get to continuing education events. TVMA was also supportive of Dr. Glenn’s continuing education goals.
“After I regained some of my physical and emotional skills,” he said, “these same veterinarians, along with Dr, Flint Immell, Dr. Gary Grote, Dr. Richard Parker, Dr. Steve Johnson and Dr. Randy Doran made niches in their practices that allowed me to be involved in practice and redevelop my self-confidence, sense of accomplishment, and feeling of productivity.”
With the help of colleagues, Dr. Glenn took up relief practice, which allowed him to reclaim his career in veterinary medicine and gave him a renewed perspective on the profession. Serving as a relief veterinarian over the years reinforced in Dr. Glenn’s mind the dedication that veterinarians have to the community in a wide range of capacities – they are active in professional practice, in public health, in education, in their spiritual lives, in animal welfare, and in agriculture.
Dr. Glenn referred to the members of the veterinary field he has worked with over the years a brotherhood. “And you can see why,” he said. “Our colleagues are much more than professional acquaintances.”
TVMA and Dr. Glenn’s colleagues have recognized, however, that Dr. Glenn himself was really the most important driving force behind his successful career, his personal achievements, and the contributions he continues to make to the profession of veterinary medicine.
