The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) presented Nathaniel A. White II, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, with the Distinguished Life Member Award for his leadership and volunteerism within the association during his 43 years of membership.

The Distinguished Life Member Award honors an AAEP member who has made outstanding contributions to the association throughout their career. White, professor emeritus of equine surgery at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center and president of the AAEP in 2010, was honored Dec. 8 during the President’s Luncheon at the AAEP’s 61^st Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Currently, White is chair of the AAEP’s National Equine Health Plan Task Force, which is establishing an Equine Disease Communication Center to serve as a national hub for equine disease reporting and communication. Additionally, since 2010, he has served on the management board and as co-editor of the American edition of Equine Veterinary Education.

A 1971 graduate of Cornell University, White was instrumental in the establishment and served as longtime chair of the AAEP Foundation, the charitable arm of the AAEP that has distributed more than $3.3 million since 1994 to improve the welfare of the horse. He served two terms on the AAEP board of directors, volunteered with the AAEP On Call program from 1994 to 2000, delivered the 2006 Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecture on the subject of colic, and received the AAEP’s Distinguished Service Award in 2004