(August 2, 2011   Stillwater, OK) – Keith Flanagan, DVM, of Texhoma, Okla., has been selected by Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Association as one of four 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients.  Flanagan and the others will be honored at a luncheon on Friday, Oct. 7, at 11:30 a.m. in the Sequoyah Room of the OSU Student Union on the Stillwater campus.  The public is invited to attend.  Tickets may be purchased for $25 from the veterinary center.  Make checks payable to OSU and mail to Oklahoma State University, Veterinary Continuing Education, 002B BVMTH, Stillwater, OK  74078.

Flanagan earned his DVM degree from OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1978.  He spent the next two years serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps as Group Veterinarian for the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Ft. Bragg, N.C.  Following his military service, Flanagan worked seven years at the Marlow Veterinary Clinic in Marlow, Okla., with a classmate, Dr. Lyndon Graf.

During 1986, Flanagan took a 14-day visit to Haiti and the next thing he knew, he was asking his wife, Jan, what she thought about living in Haiti.  Flanagan began working with the Christian Veterinary Mission as the staff veterinarian and farm manage at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti.  He planned to work for a couple of years in Haiti—set up some programs, train people in animal healthcare and return to the states.  Twenty-four years later, he is still there.

Through the years, Flanagan has held many positions and been involved in several projects and programs including instituting preventive health measures, potable water development, training animal health agents, liaison to the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, co-director of a Classical Swine Fever program and co-director of the Avian Influenza program.

In addition, Flanagan has been director of two Pan-American Development Foundation Pay-for-Work Road and Canal Rehabilitation Projects in the Artibonite Valley of Haiti, evaluated veterinary medicine animal training programs in Kenya and Tanzania, consultant to Save the Children for evaluation of an animal health training program in Ethiopia, consultant to Heifer Project International to develop and facilitate an animal health training of trainers course in Creole and the list goes on.

In his current position with Christian Veterinary Mission, Dr. Flanagan hosts short term mission trips and trains and mentors young Haitian veterinarians.  He continues to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture on animal disease control programs.  Flanagan’s wish is that one day when he is gone, the programs he has helped implement and the work he has done will keep moving forward.

The Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences is one of 28 veterinary colleges in the United States and is fully accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The center’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is open to the public and provides routine and specialized care for small and large animals. It also offers 24-hour emergency care and is certified by the American Animal Hospital Association. For more information, visit www.cvhs.okstate.edu or call (405) 744-7000.

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