The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

is a

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, located in North Grafton,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. The Cummings School is the only college of veterinary medicine in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The school is also part of the Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts.

History

Established in 1978 under the leadership of Tufts President Jean Mayer, the Cummings School was the first school of veterinary medicine in New England since the closure of

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

in Waltham in 1947. The school is supervised by a dean, appointed by the

university president A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

and the provost, with the approval of the

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

. The dean is responsible for all aspects of operating the school, including admissions, education, faculty appointments, partnerships, and affiliated research institutions. Appointed in July 2019, Alastair Cribb is the current dean of the school, as well as the Henry and Lois Foster Professor of Biomedical Sciences. Since 1981, the school has run the Omicron chapter of the

Alpha Psi Alpha Psi () is a professional Veterinary Medicine fraternity started at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1907. History Founded by twenty-two students in Veterinary Medicine at the Ohio State University, Alpha Psi wa ...

professional veterinary medicine fraternity. In 2005, the school was named in honor of Bill Cummings and his wife, Joyce, who are founders of the Cummings Foundation, after a fifty-million dollar commitment was made. Bill graduated from Tufts in 1958 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

. Another major donor to the school was Agnes Varis. In 2015, along with the generosity of the Cummings family, the school was an early partner to help establish the

University of Global Health Equity University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is a health sciences university in Rwanda. An initiative of Partners In Health, UGHE is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution. Catalytic partners that have helped to launch the University inc ...

. Notably, the Cummings School was a primary care provider for Frank and Louie, known as the world's oldest

diprosopus Diprosopus ( el, διπρόσωπος, "two-faced", from , , "two" and , euter "face", "person"; with Latin ending), also known as craniofacial duplication (cranio- from Greek , "skull", the other parts Latin), is an extremely rare congenital di ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

Program

The Cummings School offers both

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

degrees, or a dual combination, in fields related to veterinary medicine. Master's degrees include study in Animals and Public Policy, Conservation Medicine, and Infectious Disease and Global Health. Doctoral degrees include

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

(DVM) and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) in Biomedical Sciences. The DVM degree can also be paired with other courses of study at Tufts'

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, or the School of Medicine.

Notable faculty

* Robyn Alders (professor) * Franklin M. Loew (dean)

Notable alumni

* Lexie Laing (MS APP 2020), professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

player

References

External links