John Stick, DVM, DACVS, professor emeritus at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, received the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ 2018 Distinguished Educator – Academic Award for his contributions to the profession over four decades as an educator, mentor, clinician and scientist. 

The Distinguished Educator – Academic Award honors an individual who by his or her actions and commitment has demonstrated a significant impact on the development and training of equine practitioners. Dr. Stick was honored Dec. 4 during the President’s Luncheon at the AAEP’s 64th Annual Convention in San Francisco, Calif. 

During his 43 years as an academician, Dr. Stick trained 32 surgery residents, 26 graduate students and mentored many junior faculty. His case-based teaching style instilled problem solving and confidence in his students, many of whom now hold senior positions in private or academic practice around the world and are training the next generation of equine surgeons. 

Research by Dr. Stick and colleagues at Michigan State forever changed how laryngeal surgery is performed in the horse. The team quantified air flow volumes pre- and post-left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy and then documented the statistically superior return of airflow volumes provided by a prosthetic laryngoplasty or nerve muscle pedicle graft when compared to all other surgical recommendations. 

Dr. Stick’s contributions to scientific literature include service on the editorial review board of 10 major veterinary journals; and author or co-author of 134 monographs, chapters and proceedings and over 105 scientific publications. He also served as contributing author and editor for five editions of Equine Surgery, the textbook universally acknowledged as the bible for equine surgeons.  

Dr. Stick received his veterinary degree from The Ohio State University in 1974. Following an internship in large animal medicine and surgery at Purdue University and a two-year surgical residency at Cornell University, Dr. Stick joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 1977. He served as professor and chief of staff/chief operations officer within the department of large animal clinical sciences from 1992-2015. 

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, the AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.