EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges has named its minority scholarship fund in honor of Patricia M. Lowrie, senior adviser to the dean at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Lowrie, founder of Vetward Bound and director of the MSU Women’s Resource Center, is a long-time champion of diversity and inclusion in the veterinary profession. The Patricia Lowrie Diversity Leadership Scholarship will be awarded to a veterinary student who has made significant contributions to enhancing diversity and inclusion at his or her institution.
“Pat Lowrie devoted the majority of her career to promoting diversity in the veterinary profession,” said Christopher Brown, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “She has been an important advocate and an impressive force for creating a more inclusive and diverse academic environment in veterinary colleges.”
Lowrie earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in zoology from Howard University. Her career advocating for diversity and recruiting underrepresented populations began when she was appointed the affirmative action officer for MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She later was appointed assistant to the dean for admissions and affirmative action and she assumed the role of senior academic specialist and director of the Women’s Research Center at MSU.
Lowrie created Vetward Bound, one of the most successful and longest-running programs in the country for the recruitment of underrepresented students to veterinary medicine. At the Women’s Resource Center, her team addresses issues of individuals who are members of groups that are historically victims of racism, sexism, classism and homophobia.
“I am humbled,” Lowrie said. “There have been so many people who have played a role in bringing me – bringing us – to this moment. And this scholarship is one way to encourage and reward the students who will join us and invigorate us and who will continue the fight beyond us. To have my name associated with that is truly an honor.”
For more on this story, go to http://cvm.msu.edu/about-the-college/news-and-events/news/aavmc-diversity-scholarship-named-to-honor-patricia-lowrie.
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