College of Veterinary Medicine

2009 Distinguished Alumni Awardee

Dr. Charles Capen received his DVM from Washington State University in 1960. Dr. Capen developed an early interest in veterinary pathology and as a second year veterinary student began working and attending graduate seminars in that department. His interest in a career in veterinary pathology brought him to The Ohio State University, where he received a MS degree in 1961 and his PhD in 1965. He was awarded diplomate status from the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 1965. Beginning his career as an instructor in the Department of Pathology (later called Pathobiology and then Veterinary Biosciences), he rose through the academic ranks and became a professor in 1972. He served as chair of the Department of Veterinary Biosciences from 1982 to 2002. He was a highly regarded mentor for more than 22 graduate students and post doctoral scientists. In addition he published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the top journals of his fields and wrote more than 100 book chapters.

Over the past 40 years, Dr. Capen's influence and contributions to the fields of endocrinology, toxicology, and veterinary pathology were enormous. He was recognized worldwide as an exceptional leader in the veterinary profession and as one of the foremost experts on calcium metabolism and tumors of endocrine glands. His pioneering research provided fundamental knowledge of the function of vitamin D, humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy and parturient hypocalcemia in dairy cows. Considered by many to be the world authority on veterinary endocrine pathology, he was renowned for his work in the use of animal models to study human diseases.

Dr. Capen received dozens of honors during his career. In 1992 he was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of only a few veterinarians inducted. He was also named a Distinguished Member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists-at the time one of only 22 diplomates of 1,300 in the college to receive such a designation. He received Ohio State's Distinguished Scholar Award and Distinguished Professor Award in 1993 and 2002, respectively. Washington State University honored him with a Distinguished Alumnus award in 2007.

This Distinguished Alumnus award is being given posthumously to Dr. Capen, who passed away on March 1, 2008 after a courageous battle against cancer. His wife, Professor Emeritus Dr. Sharron Martin, will be accepting the award in his memory.