A Foundation for Leadership
Article by: Jessi Behrendsen
Originally Published
In 1989, the graduating class of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine joined a profession dedicated to animal health, scientific discovery and public service. Few could have predicted that three members of that class would one day become deans of three nationally recognized veterinary colleges.
Today, they lead three renowned veterinary colleges: Daniel L. Grooms, DVM ’89, PhD ’97, DACVM, is the Dr. Stephen G. Juelsgaard Dean of Veterinary
Medicine at Iowa State University; Rustin M. Moore, DVM ’89, PhD ’94, DACVS, serves as the Rita Jean Wolfe Endowed Dean of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine; and Bonnie R. Rush, DVM ’89, MS ’93, DACVIM, is the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Their achievement is remarkable, but the three alumni share a common perspective: none entered veterinary school with aspirations of becoming a dean. Instead, their paths were shaped by mentors, opportunities and a culture of excellence they encountered at Ohio State.
“I didn’t even know what a dean was,” Moore said with a laugh.
Grooms had a similar reflection. Growing up on a small beef cattle farm in Ohio, he entered veterinary school intending to return to rural practice as a mixed-animal veterinarian. Rush, meanwhile, arrived with a passion for veterinary medicine but little sense that academic leadership would one day become part of her future.
What they did share was an experience that fostered curiosity, confidence and leadership that would shape their careers.
Learning From the Best
When Rush reflects on Ohio State in the 1980s, she remembers being surrounded by faculty whose names appeared on the textbooks students carried to class.
“We knew they were special,” she said. “We knew they were the best.”
Faculty members such as Drs. John Bonagura, Dennis Chew and William Fenner, to name a few, were already recognized nationally and internationally in their fields. As students, Rush and her classmates understood they were learning from pioneers shaping veterinary medicine in real time. What she appreciates even more in retrospect is how young many of those faculty members were. “They weren’t quite 40,” she recalled. “They’d written the textbooks we were reading. They had national and international recognition. They were the authority.”
Beyond their accomplishments, Rush remembers the atmosphere they created. “You could feel the energy,” she said. “You could feel confidence and power. You could feel how committed everybody was to what they were doing.” That environment left an enduring mark.
For Grooms, the defining influence came through mentorship. As a student, he connected with Kent Hoblet, DVM ’71, MS ’84, a faculty member who would later become dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University. Hoblet introduced Grooms to research and academic veterinary medicine, opening doors he had never considered.
“I often say that I followed Kent Hoblet’s career trajectory,” Grooms said. “I became an extension veterinarian, then a department chair and then a dean.”
Moore credits Ohio State with exposing him to possibilities beyond the veterinary career he had imagined growing up in rural West Virginia.
“When you get here, you get exposed to different people, different professors and different specialties,” he said. “Your mind changes about every other day.”
Together, those experiences illustrate the hallmark of veterinary education: exposure to new people, ideas and opportunities often reshapes not only career paths but also what students believe is possible.
Following Opportunity
After graduation, the three alumni pursued very different paths.
Rush completed an internship at North Carolina State University before returning to Ohio State for residency training. She joined the faculty at Kansas State University in 1993, where she built an internationally recognized career in veterinary internal medicine and academic leadership. She served as dean at Kansas State University from 2017 to 2025 and then became dean at Texas A&M in 2025.
Grooms spent five years in private practice before returning to Ohio State to pursue a PhD. He then joined Michigan State University, where he spent more than two decades as a faculty member, researcher and administrator before being named dean at Iowa State in 2018.
Moore completed an internship at the University of Georgia before returning to Ohio State for a combined residency and PhD. During his 12 years on the faculty at Louisiana State University, he built a nationally and internationally recognized equine research and graduate training program. He returned to Ohio State in 2006 as chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, later serving concurrently as executive director of the Veterinary Medical Center before becoming dean in 2015.
Their career journeys varied, but a common theme emerged: leadership often arrived unexpectedly.
Each focused on serving where they could make the greatest contribution, and leadership followed.
For Moore, it began with efforts to improve facilities and programs while on faculty at Louisiana State. For Grooms, it grew from the example set by mentors and the opportunities they encouraged him to pursue. For Rush, it stemmed from a desire to help institutions reach their full potential.
None describe a master plan. Instead, each cites a willingness to embrace new challenges and contribute wherever they could make the greatest impact.
“I think a lot of what happens is faculty, just by interacting with students, inspire students to go in different roles and different ways,” Moore said.
A Legacy That Continues
The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine has produced an impressive number of leaders throughout the profession, including many alumni who have gone on to serve as deans and senior administrators at veterinary colleges across North America and beyond.
Yet the story of the Class of 1989 stands out because of its rarity. Three classmates who studied together, learned from the same faculty mentors and graduated on the same day now lead three prominent veterinary colleges. Through those institutions, their leadership now influences thousands of students, faculty members, researchers, clinicians, and the communities they serve. Their careers also demonstrate the broad reach of a veterinary degree.
Beyond leading their colleges, Rush and Moore each served as president of both the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians and the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, while Grooms led the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and served on the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s Committee on Animal Health.
For current students, their stories offer an important reminder. The career they envision today may not be the one they ultimately pursue. A mentor who sparks a new interest, a research project that reveals a hidden talent, or an unexpected opportunity may alter the course of a professional life. That was certainly true for Moore, Grooms and Rush.
Today, they seek to provide the same environment for their students, one where mentorship, opportunity, and high expectations help prepare the next generation of veterinary leaders. More than three decades after graduating, they remain connected by the foundation they built while at Ohio State and by a shared commitment to advancing veterinary medicine.
What began in the classrooms, clinics and laboratories of Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine has become a leadership legacy that continues to influence veterinary education and student success around the world — one generation of Buckeyes inspiring the next to lead the profession into the future.