by Fran Jurga | 19 January 2010 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com
Received via press release; note at end.
Gary Carpenter, former executive director of the American Quarter Horse Foundation, will join Colorado State University’s Equine Sciences Program. Carpenter will begin his duties as industry outreach and liaison director for the Equine Sciences Program on February 1.
Carpenter graduated from Colorado State in 1979 with a degree in agricultural industries management. In addition to his position with AQHA, Carpenter has been the executive vice president and executive director of The Jockey Club, the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in North America. He also served as executive director of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
“I’m excited about returning to CSU,” said Carpenter. “I have been on the Equine Sciences Advisory Committee for the past seven years, and I am amazed at the talent of the students at CSU and the progress the program has made. It is particularly attractive to me because it covers all aspects of the horse industry.”
The Equine Sciences Program, part of the Department of Animal Sciences at CSU, has more than 400 students enrolled, making it one of the strongest undergraduate programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
“I’m elated that Gary Carpenter will be joining us,” said William Wailes, head of the Department of Animal Sciences at CSU. “He is highly respected in the equine industry throughout the United States. I’m sure he will take our program to the next level.”
Carpenter’s position and operating costs will be funded by an anonymous private donation. His duties will include development, coordination of industry partners, expanding the breadth of the program and research activities, and improving facilities.
The Equine Sciences Program at Colorado State University has a long history, both in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Research programs, centered in both colleges, provide unmatched opportunities and experiential learning in support of the undergraduate program. Students from across North America and several foreign countries have enrolled in the CSU Equine Sciences Program.
Blogger’s Note: That was a nice press release from CSU, but I thought it might need a little translation for anyone who is not familiar with that university. First of all, I have already been in touch with Gary Carpenter to verify this news and wish him well in his new position. Equally, I wish the AQHA well in finding a replacement for him in the excellent and far-reaching work that is done by the AQHA Foundation.
But I am sure that many people are asking what attraction CSU’s animal science department would have for him, other than that it is his alma mater. Read more closely: how many undergraduate programs at universities have 400 students in the equine sciences program alone?
CSU’s world-renowned Equine Reproduction Laboratory, which is one of the leading equine medical institutions in the world in its own right, is part of the Equine Sciences umbrella. Also under Gary Carpenter’s development duties will be the world-class Orthopedics Research Center at CSU, home of much of the ground-breaking joint research that moves the sport horse and racing worlds ahead. There’s a graduate program in equine nutrition, and the well-established Equine Sciences short courses in repro and lameness offered by CSU are some of the best continuing education opportunities available anywhere. Equine Sciences at CSU seems to have the best of the equine world from the veterinary college and the agricultural school.
Take the energy, the engine, the staff and the 400 students in the equine program at CSU and add an external development catalyst like Gary Carpenter and we should have more reasons than ever to keep an eye on CSU. They’ll be in the news. They’ll make the news. Stay tuned.
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