The American Association of Equine Practitioners yesterday honored John Thomas Vaughan, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, and the late Dean Scoggins, DVM, with the annual Distinguished Educator Award for advancing the equine veterinary profession through impactful teaching and mentorship. Vaughan and the family of Scoggins were presented with the award during the President's Luncheon, which was held at the organization's 55th Convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

For more than 40 years, Vaughan has been an instrumental figure in the development of equine veterinary students at Auburn University and Cornell University. A 1955 graduate of Auburn specializing in surgery, Vaughan became the sixth dean of Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine, and in 2003 the the college's large animal teaching hospital was named after him. An instructor of surgery and medicine, Vaughan's students describe him as a challenging but amiable mentor whose instruction reaped great rewards throughout their careers.

Vaughan is a former president of the AAEP and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. He is the former chair of the council of deans of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. Vaughan was selected as the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association's Veterinarian of the Year in 1985, and in 1994 he received a Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors' Association.

Scoggins, who passed away in late 2006, was an innovative instructor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine who taught nontraditional skills, including practice management and alternative therapies, when such topics were not yet part of mainstream veterinary practice. He pushed for improvements in equine dental care throughout his career and organized events to teach proper, humane dental practices to his students and colleagues. As an avid horseman who was involved in many facets of the equine industry, Scoggins shared his passion for horses and improving equine welfare with his students