Stephen J. Roberts (1915–2005), also known as "Doc Roberts", was an American veterinarian, Professor at Cornell University, polo player and coach.Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, Stephen J. Roberts's biography
/ref>
/ref>Stephen Roberts, 89; Coached Cornell's Champion Polo Team
'' The Los Angeles Times'', January 29, 2005

Biography

Early life

Stephen Roberts was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 5, 1915. He grew up in Hamburg, New York, where his father, Dr James Roberts, a Cornell graduate, was a veterinarian. Roberts himself graduated from Cornell in 1938, where he trained as a veterinarian and served as Captain of the polo team. He married a Cornell graduated, Betty Jane Harris, in 1938. They moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where he taught veterinary medicine and earned his Master of Science.

Cornell

He joined the faculty at Cornell in 1942. He became full professor in the Department of Large Animal Medicine, Obstetrics and Surgery in 1946 and served as chairman of the department from 1965 to 1966, and from 1969 to 1972. He served on the Judicial Council of the

American Veterinary Medical Association The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), founded in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 99,500 veterinarians in the US. The AVMA provides information resources, continuing education opportunities, publicatio ...

(AVMA) for thirteen years, was a charter diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists, was an associate editor of the '' Veterinary News'', and provided years of service to the Cornell Veterinary Alumni Association. He served as intercollegiate polo coach at Cornell from 1947 to 1972. He implemented "split strings" for intercollegiate polo, requiring home teams to provide horses so visitors didn't have to bring theirs to the game.

Vermont and retirement

In 1972, he left Cornell and moved to

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Chart ...

, where he worked as a veterinarian with his brother, Dr. James Roberts. He helped set up the Quechee Polo Club in

Quechee, Vermont Quechee is a census-designated place and one of five unincorporated villages in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 656. It is the site of Quechee Gorge on the Ottau ...

. In 1993, he married Ruth Webb Shipman and began retirement in Bath, New York. He died of heart failure on January 21, 2005, in Bath. His will had set up the ''Doc Roberts Fund for Polo''.

Legacy

He received the prestigious national Borden Award from the AVMA for his research on cattle disease, the Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, and the Salmon Award given only to Cornell's most august veterinary alumni. He was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. He was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Lake Worth, Florida on February 9, 1996.

Bibliography

*''Veterinary Obstetrics and Genital Diseases'' (1956) *''An Autobiographical History of Collegiate Polo and its Players at Cornell University, 1919-1972 and Beyond'' (1996)Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in the United States: A History'', McFarland, 2011
p 292
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Stephen J. 1915 births 2005 deaths People from Indianapolis Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty American polo players People from Hamburg, New York