Veranus Alva Moore

Template:Short description Template:Infobox academic Veranus Alva Moore (April 13, 1859 – February 11, 1931) was an American academic, bacteriologist, and pathologist. He was a founding faculty member and department chair of the New York State Veterinary College, now the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. He was dean of the college for 21 years and became a national leader in veterinary science. He was also the superintendent of Memorial Hospital in Ithaca, New York. He was also a founder and first president of Phi Zeta honor society for veterinary medicine.

Early life

Moore was born in Hounsfield, New York on April 13, 1859.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":6">Gage, Simon Henry. "Veranus Alva Moore—Pierre Augustine FIsh". Science vol. 73, no. 1899 (May 22, 1931) pp. 550-553. DOI:10.1126/science.73.1899.550.</ref><ref name="Obit" /> His parents were Antoinette Eastman and Alva Moore.<ref name="Obit" /><ref name=":6" /> When he was thirteen years old, Moore's father died.<ref name="Obit" /> Moore worked on a farm to support his mother and siblings.<ref name="Obit" /><ref name=":6" /> While working, he stepped on a nail, resulting bone infection in his foot that required him to use crutches from the age of 15 to 25, until he was cured by surgery.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> His injury resulted in seeing as many as 125 surgeons and physicians, including spending time at Bellevue Hospital, which sparked his interest in the medical profession.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" />

Moore graduated from the Mexico Academy in Mexico, New York in 1882.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> He then taught school in Mexico for a year.<ref name=":2" /> He enrolled in Cornell University in 1883 to study medicine, graduating with an A.B. in 1887.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":3" /> While at Cornell, he was also a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.<ref name=":5" />

Moore took a position as an assistant with the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Industry in Washington, D.C., while also attending graduate school.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" /> He then attended the Columbian Medical School (now Georgetown University School of Medicine), graduating with an M.D. in 1890.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Obit" />

Career

After graduate school, Moore continued to work as an assistant at the United States Department of Agriculture's Division of Animal Pathology from 1890 to 1896, investigating infectious diseases.<ref name="Marquis">Moore, Veranus Alva, in Who's Who in America 1901-1902. John W. Leonard, editor. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company Publishers, 1901. via Internet Archive.</ref><ref name=":2" /> In this capacity, he conducted an in depth study on the impact of cornstalk disease on cattle in the American Midwest.<ref name=":2" /> He spent several weeks investigating epizootic diseases in Minnesota in the fall of 1895.<ref name=":2" /> He was the chief of the Division of Animal Pathology from 1895 to 1896.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":0" /> At the same time, Moore was a professor of normal histology at the Columbian Medical School from 1894 to 1896, teaching evening courses.<ref name="Obit" /> Moore resigned his position with the USDA in 1896 to become an academic.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>

When the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York opened September 1896, Moore was one of its founding faculty members.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1" /> He was a professor of bacteriology, pathology, and meat inspection and chair of the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Pathology and Bacteriology.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Obit" /> Moore was dean of the veterinary college from 1908 to 1929.<ref name="Obit">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":6" /> Moore established the departments laboratory, which prepared vaccines for anthrax, glanders, and tuberculosis for veterinarians across New York state.<ref name=":2" /> This lab was considered "the best equipped of its kind and...a model for other scientific institutions."<ref name=":2" />

Moore became a national leader in veterinary science.<ref name=":3" /> He perfected a way to identify the horse disease glanders, which was implemented across the United States.<ref name=":2" /> In 1903, he was hired by the University of California, Berkely to spend two months studying diseases on fowl ranches in California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moore was also a strong advocate of rabies legislation.<ref name=":2" />

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Moore was a representative to the International Veterinary Congress's Conference on Tuberculosis in Budapest, Hungary.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> Moore reviewed the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and helped evaluate candidates for the United States Secretary of Agriculture in 1907.<ref name=":3" /> He was also appointed to the Ithaca Board of Health in 1910, serving for twelve years.<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":5" />

Moore was president of the Society of American Bacteriologists in 1910. During World War I, he was assigned to the Surgeon General's office, where he helped establish the United States Army Veterinary Corps.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" /> In 1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed Moore to serve on the White House Conference on Children and Youth.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />

Moore was also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association of Tompkins County, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the New York State Medical Society, and the Society of American Pathologists and Bacteriologists.<ref name=":2" /> Moore published more than 250 papers in professional and government publications.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name="Obit" /> He was elected to Ithaca's board of education for twelve years, becoming its president in 1922.<ref name=":5" /> In 1925, Moore helped establish Phi Zeta honor society for veterinary medicine and served as its first president.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also served as a faculty representative on Cornell University's board of trustees from 1926 to 1929.<ref name="Obit" />

Moore retired from Cornell University in 1929 as an emeritus dean at the age of seventy.<ref name=":3" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>"The Retirement of Dean Veranus A. Moore of Cornell University". Science vol. 70, no. 1802 (July 12, 1929), pp. 32-32. DOI:10.1126/science.70.1802.32.a</ref> He then became the superintendent of Ithaca Memorial Hospital, after having served as one of its trustees from January 1918 until late 1929.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref> While he was dean at veterinary school, he helped the hospital establish a department of pathology and bacteriology.<ref name=":4" />

Honors

Moore was a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.<ref name=":5" />

Moore received an honorary Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and an honorary Doctor of Science from Syracuse University in 1919.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, England, in January 1931.<ref name=":5" />

Moore was included in the 1934 book, Dictionary of American Biography, volume 13.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> The biographical sketch was written by John R. Moher, chief of the U.S. Bureau of Animal Husbandry in Washington, D.C.<ref name=":3" />

Personal life

Moore married Mary L. Slawson of Cicero, New York on July 12, 1892.<ref name=Marquis/> They had two sons and a daughter; both of his sons became doctors.<ref name=":5" />

Moore was a director of the Ithaca Savings and Loan Association.<ref name=":5" /> He was a member of the Gown Club of Ithaca, the Ithaca Rotary Club, and joined the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. in 1895.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":22">Template:Cite book</ref> He was master of the Hobasco Lodge No. 761 of the Free and Accepted Masons, district deputy of the Cayuga-Tompkins Masonic District, and belonged to Eagle Chapter 58 of the Royal Arch Masons; St. Augustine Commandry No. 38 of the Knights Templar; and the Kalurah Temple of the Shrine.<ref name=":5" /> Moore was also a member of the First Methodist Church in Ithaca.<ref name=":5" />

Moore died in Ithaca Memorial Hospital in Ithaca, New York, on February 11, 1931.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> He had intestinal surgery the prior week and died from stress to his heart.<ref name=":5" />

Selected publications

• "Powdered soap as a cause of death among swill-fed hogs". Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin, no. 141 (November 1897) pp. 410–418.
• Laboratory directions for beginners in bacteriology. Ithaca: Press of Andrus & Church, 1898.
• "An inquiry concerning the source of gas and taint producing bacteria in cheese curd". with Archibald Robinson Ward. Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin, no. 158 (January 1899) pp. 222–237.
• The pathology and differential diagnosis of infectious diseases of animals. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1902.
• Bacteria in milk. A summary of the present knowledge concerning their source and significance. Albany: State of New York, 1902.
• "Bovine Tuberculosis". Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin, no. 225 (February 1905) pp. 81–92.
• The pathology and differential diagnosis of infectious diseases of animals. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1906.
• "The Bang method of controlling tuberculosis, with an illustration of its application". with H. A. Harding and George A. Smith. New York Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin, no. 277 (1906).
• "Bovine tuberculosis". Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin, no. 250 (January 1908) pp. 268–288.
• "The elimination of tubercle bacilli from infected cattle, and the control of bovine tuberculosis and infected milk". Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin, no. 299 (May 1911) pp. 698–714.
• Principles of microbiology; a treatise on Bacteria, Fungi and Protozoa pathogenic for domesticated animals. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1912.
• Bovine tuberculosis and its control. Ithaca: Carpenter & Company, 1913.
• Principles of Microbiology: a treatise on bacteria, fungi and protozoa pathogenic for domesticated animals. New York: The McMillian Company, 1916.

Further reading

• Moore, Norman S. and Haight, Helena H., and Gage, Simon Henry. Veranus Alva Moore, A Biography. Ithaca, New York, 1931.