Torres

Dr. Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator for veterinary services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has been named director of the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Diagnostic Laboratory operates as a partnership between the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell to improve the health of food- and fiber-producing animals, as well as companion, sporting, zoo and wildlife animals. The partnership also works to prevent communicable diseases that have an impact on human health throughout the state and the region. The laboratory conducts more than 700,000 diagnostic tests each year on animals of all species, including humans, and provides education, consulting, outbreak investigation and prevention programs.

In his new position, effective February 2002, Torres also will serve as a professor in the veterinary college's Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences.

State Agriculture Commissioner Nathan L. Rudgers said: "The agriculture industry of New York state is truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with this very talented individual. Dr. Torres is a consummate professional, a skilled visionary and is dedicated to advancing U.S. animal agriculture. It is with great pleasure that I welcome his return to Cornell as the director of our highly regarded Diagnostic Laboratory."

Donald F. Smith, dean of the veterinary college, said: "Dr. Torres represents a seminal senior appointment for the College of Veterinary Medicine and for the state of New York. He is a brilliant veterinarian, a gifted administrator and one of the most credible authorities in veterinary medicine and related public-health issues in the country. Because of his past positions in academia, private business and the federal government, he brings an unusual array of experiences to this important position." Noting that he was a faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine from 1983 to 1987, Torres said: "I am delighted in returning to Cornell University to lead the activities of the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory. Safeguarding the health of all our animals is one of the most important services that our veterinary profession provides to society. Recent events threatening the health of our animal industries and our supply of healthy and abundant food point to the greater importance that veterinary diagnostic laboratories have in the early recognition and response to emerging or foreign animal diseases and in promoting international trade. The laboratory at Cornell has a long, distinguished history of service to the state and the nation, and I am committed to maintain and enhance its reputation and scope of services."

After leaving Cornell in 1987, Torres continued to hold an appointment as an adjunct professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Before assuming the APHIS post, he was director of the USDA's Plum Island Animal Disease Center (1996-99), as well as chief of foreign animal disease (1995-96) and head of diagnostic services (1991-95), also at the Plum Island facility. From 1987 to 1991, Torres was the manager of the virology development at SmithKline Beecham Animal Health (formerly Norden Labs) in Lincoln, Neb.; an assistant and then associate professor of veterinary science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1973-75 and 1978-83); and new products manager for Latin America at the Ames Co. laboratories in Cali, Colombia.

Torres earned his D.V.M. (1968) at the National University of Colombia in Bogota, an M.S. in veterinary pathology (1971) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his Ph.D. (1973) in medical microbiology, also at Nebraska.

As deputy administrator of veterinary services at APHIS, Torres directed a federal unit with approximately 1,400 employees (including more than 400 veterinarians) with operations in all 50 states and U.S. possessions and an annual budget of about $130 million. APHIS animal health programs are responsible for domestic and foreign animal disease prevention, control and eradication activities, as well as regulatory oversight of international trade of animals, animal products and veterinary biologics. Torres' federal capacity also made him the chief veterinary officer of the United States in the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) in Paris, the unit designated by the World Trade Organization for developing health standards for international trade in animals and animal products.

Before assuming his administrative duties, Torres focused his research primarily on viral diseases of poultry, cattle, swine, dogs and cats. A native of Colombia (and now an American citizen), he has been active in promoting diversity enhancement and improved intercultural relations through organizations such as the National Veterinary Services Civil Rights Leadership Committee. He is the recipient of numerous foreign and domestic honors, including the USDA's 1998 Daniel E. Salmon Award. That prize is named for the veterinarian who received the first D.V.M. degree in the United States, from Cornell in 1876, and who went on to achieve distinction as the first chief of the U.S. Bureau of Animal Industry, a precursor of the APHIS, and the person who identified the Salmonella pathogen. On Oct. 15, Torres received the Meritorious Presidential Rank award from President George Bush in recognition of his work as a federal senior executive service employee.

As director of the Diagnostic Laboratory, Torres succeeds Donald H. Lein, who led the laboratory from 1987 until his retirement in June 2001. Lein, professor emeritus of theriogenology and a member of the Cornell faculty since 1974, also served as associate director of the Diagnostic Laboratory from 1980 to 1987.