Mike Donahue, PhD, served the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) for 41 years before he fully retired in 2012. After a long and distinguished career, the veterinary medical community recognized his significant contributions to the field.

Donahue recently received the American Association for Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) Thermo-Scientific Award for Excellence in Diagnostic Veterinary Microbiology. The association presented the award Oct. 19 at its national meeting in Greensboro, N.C. The award recognizes distinguished scientists for service and research accomplishments resulting in new scientific findings that advanced veterinary medicine and animal health.

Donahue’s nominator was UK VDL director Craig Carter, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM, who said Donahue’s knowledge of infectious diseases in animals, especially horses, is extensive and his clinical savvy made him effective in working with clients.

Donahue completed a doctoral degree in microbiology at the University of Missouri in 1971 and joined the UK VDL as bacteriology section chief shortly after the lab opened. He then built a comprehensive microbiology diagnostic service from the ground up in support of Kentucky animal agriculture and the signature Bluegrass horse industry. He attained the rank of full professor in 1989