Cornell University polo coach Stephen Roberts, DVM, with the 1968-1969 Cornell Polo Team varsity players. On horseback, left to right: Dan Ladd, Dr. Doug Antczak, and Bill Armstrong. Standing, left to right: Paul Wilson and Jeff Springer. | Photo: Courtesy Cornell University

They both grew up riding horses, joined the polo team as Cornell University undergraduates, and dedicated their careers to the field of equine reproduction.

But each chose a different path: Doug Antczak, VMD, PhD, became a professor at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in Ithaca, New York, where he has conducted groundbreaking research in equine pregnancy, while Walter Zent, DVM, Dipl. ACT (Hon), joined a top equine practice and specialized in Thoroughbred breeding in Kentucky.

Their contributions to the field were recently recognized by the International Symposium on Equine Reproduction (ISER), which presented Antczak and Zent with Lifetime Achievement Awards. They were among five veterinarians and scientists from the United States, Canada, and England who were honored this summer at the ISER meeting, in Cambridge, England