The University of Calgary is welcoming a familiar name to lead its veterinary school.

Dr. Renate Weller will join the university as its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine dean, announced Dr. Teri Balser, the university’s provost and vice president. The renewable 5-year term begins Sept. 1, 2021.

Weller joins the University of Calgary after serving as the inaugural director of veterinary education at CVS Group in which she developed educational and clinical training strategies for more than 7,000 employees. Previously, Weller held several roles at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College (RVC) including associate dean for undergraduate teaching and professor, comparative imaging and biomechanics in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Services. Weller was instrumental in the creation of the RVC’s graduate diploma in equine locomotor research (Grad Dip ELR) that expanded to the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center. It is the first course of its kind offering professional farriers in both the United States and the United Kingdom the chance to gain the necessary skillset to produce original research and increase the evidence base behind farriery.

“Renate is an inspirational leader with a proven track record in all aspects of academic life, including research, clinical work and teaching as well as leadership,” Balser says. “Her collaborative approach, international experience, and focus on transdisciplinary scholarship and community connections will ensure her success as dean.”

In addition to launching the Grad Dip ELR, Weller created computer models for predicting tendon strains and was the first to use an iPhone application in the veterinary field.

Weller is a highly decorated educator and researcher. She has been awarded the U.K. Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship — the highest honor awarded for excellence in teaching in the U.K. She was inducted into the International Equine Veterinarian Hall of Fame in 2017.

“I’m honored and very humbled to be appointed the new dean at the University of Calgary veterinary school,” Weller says. “I want to thank the university for the trust that you are putting in me. I cannot wait to join the team in September.”

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