Nita L. Irby, D.V.M., has been named director of Student Support Services at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. Announcing the appointment, Acting Dean Donald F. Smith said the veterinary ophthalmologist "is ideally suited to the position" and that "students and faculty alike will be energized by the appointment."

Irby's responsibilities include academic advising, counseling, serving as the representative for persons with disabilities and supervising placement services for the college, which has 320 students enrolled in the D.V.M. program and about 100 in graduate programs.

A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, Irby earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University (1975) and veterinary degree from the University of Georgia (1980) before completing an internship at Cornell and a residency in veterinary ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania. She served for eight years as staff ophthalmologist at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania and had veterinary ophthalmology practices in King of Prussia, Pa., and Newark, Del.

Irby joined the teaching staff at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine as a lecturer in 1994. She will continue teaching foundation courses in the professional curriculum.