Ohio State University Press Release

Rustin M. Moore, executive director of The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center, has been named dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine after an extensive national search. Subject to approval by the university Board of Trustees, his appointment will be effective Sept. 1.

Moore is currently associate executive dean of the college, director of the Alice Lloyd Finley Memorial Veterinary Research Farm and holder of the Bud and Marilyn Jenne Professorship. He is a distinguished equine surgeon and researcher, veterinary educator and academic administrator.

The appointment was announced by Sheldon Retchin, executive vice president of health sciences and CEO of the Wexner Medical Center, and Joseph Steinmetz, executive vice president and provost.

Moore succeeds Lonnie King who led the college for the past six years.

A native of Spencer, W.Va., Moore earned his DVM and PhD from Ohio State in 1989 and 1994, respectively. In addition to his Ohio State degrees, he earned his BS degree from West Virginia University. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

Moore joined Ohio State’s faculty in 2006 as professor and chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. He has held a number of leadership positions within the college. He has taught at the undergraduate, professional and graduate levels both at Ohio State and at Louisiana State University, where he served on the faculty from 1994 to 2006. He has served as adviser to dozens of professional students, interns and residents.

While at LSU, he assumed emergency leadership of a large-scale rescue effort of nearly 500 horses and other animals during the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Moore’s clinical interests include equine lameness, surgery, and colic and its associated complications. He has been a principal or co-investigator on approximately 120 funded grants. In addition, he has authored or co-authored more than 15 book chapters, 120 peer- or editor-reviewed manuscripts, and 175 scientific abstracts. His service on editor-reviewed boards includes the journal Veterinary Surgery, and he has served as a manuscript reviewer for several additional prestigious journals. He is also a frequently invited speaker at national and international equine veterinary clinical, research and educational symposia.

Moore has served as president of the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians, on the board of directors of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, on the board of regents of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and as an equine health advisory board member for the Ohio Department of Agriculture.