Dr. F. William “Bill” Pierson, of Check, Va., was recently named director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Pierson had been serving as interim director since July 9, 2007.

“Dr. Pierson has distinguished himself as a capable and effective professional,” said Dr. Gerhardt Schurig, dean of the veterinary college said in May. “He has provided important leadership to our college and hospital over the past 10 months and I look forward to working with him in the future in this capacity.”

As hospital director, Pierson will be responsible for developing and implementing hospital policy and procedure, insuring state-of-the-art care for patients, and providing a dynamic and continually improving clinical environment that promotes scholarly and educational activities.

Prior to his appointment as interim director, Pierson served the college as an associate professor of biosecurity and infection control and a clinical specialist in avian medicine in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. He received his doctorate of veterinary medicine as a member of the college’s charter class in 1984 and his PhD in avian medicine from Virginia Tech in 1993