Obituary of William Charles Wagner

William C. Wagner, DVM, PhD, Diplomate American College of Theriogenology Reston, VA, December 2012 - Dr. William C. Wagner, 80, died at his home in Reston, VA on Monday, December 10, 2012. Dr. Wagner received the DVM degree in 1956 and the PhD degree in 1968, both from Cornell. He was a member of several honor societies: Alpha Zeta, Phi Zeta, Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta and Sigma Xi. He was a Charter Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists and an Honor Role member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. He was a Distinguished Scholar of the National Academy of Practice-Veterinary Medicine. He was a member of several scientific societies including the Society for the Study of Reproduction (Charter Member) , Society for the Study of Fertility , American Society of Animal Science, American Physiological Society, Conference of Research Workers in Animal Disease (President, 1988-89), International Congress on Animal Reproduction (President , 1988-96) and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. He was the recipient of an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University in 1965-68, a Senior U.S. Scientist Awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1973-74, a Senior Fulbright Research Professorship in Germany (1984-85), and received the David Bartlett Award of the American College of Theriogenologists in 1995 and the William P. Switzer Award from Iowa State University for Meritorious Service in Veterinary Medicine in 1999. Dr. Wagner has been listed in Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology, American Men and Women of Science, Who's Who in Veterinary Medicine and Who's Who in America. After one year in a general practice in Interlaken, NY with Dr. Howard K. Fuller, Dr. Wagner was a research associate in veterinary pathology with Dr. Kenneth McEntee, and then completed the PhD degree in physiology in 1968 with Dr. William Hansel at Cornell. He then joined the faculty of the Veterinary Medical Research Institute at Iowa State University in January 1968 as an Assistant Professor, rising to Full Professor in 1976. In 1977, he moved to the University of Illinois as Head, Dept. of Veterinary Biosciences and in 1990 became Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies. During this time period Dr. Wagner served as a program manager in competitive grants in animal reproduction at the USDA-CSREES and as a member of the Study Section on Fetal Development at the NIH. In 1990-93 he also was involved in the development of the competitive grants program in animal health at the USDA-CSREES agency. Dr. Wagner was named Leader of the Section on Animal Systems and National Program Leader for Veterinary Medicine at the USDA-CSREES in 1993, a position he held until retirement in 2002. Dr. Wagner then accepted a position as Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University, working on strategic planning and research funding as well as continuing with a major effort in further development of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, which had been initiated with his leadership in 2002 while still at USDA. In August 2007, Dr. Wagner accepted the appointment as Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Matthew's University, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, BWI. He left this position in December 2011 and was named Dean Emeritus at the school. Dr. Wagner previously served as an international consultant for IICA in Brazil (1982) and The Winrock Foundation in Pakistan in 1990. In addition, he participated in scientific meetings and presented short courses on animal reproduction in Brazil on two occasions and given numerous scientific papers and lectures at international meetings and universities. With respect to mentoring of trainees, he served as a mentor for four postdoctoral fellows (three of them international trainees), eight PhD students and five MS students. He also served as a member of several other students ' advisory committees, including serving on the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Veterinary Research and Theriogenology publications. Dr. Wagner served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Morris Animal Foundation (1977-81, Chair 1980-81). In organized veterinary medicine, Dr. Wagner served on the Council on Education of the AVMA and as Chair of the COE in 1991. He also was the ACT representative on the Advisory Board on Veterinary Specialties, 1971-1979. Dr. Wagner was a Life Member of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CRWAD). Dr. Wagner is survived by his wife, Victoria Wagner of Reston, VA and four children - William Wagner, Jr. of Rantoul, IL, Elizabeth Wagner of Chicago, IL, Victoria Corkery of Urbana, IL and Kathryn Wagner of Kalamazoo, MI, and a stepson, Justin Eggleton of Ashburn, VA. Dr. Wagner also delighted in his five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, December 15th at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 10550 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Memorials Fund of Christ the King Lutheran Church.