Abstract
Linda Munson’s life was rich in experience and diverse in its passions. Munson, as she was known to her international group of friends, grew up in Massachusetts and attended Wheaton College, where she received a bachelor of arts in art history. After college, she moved to the Mad River Valley in the heart of the Green Mountains of Vermont, where she absorbed its plainspoken and independent Yankee philosophy as a lifelong ethic. She extended her education in biology and reproduction at the University of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin before entering veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania. She didn’t much like Philadelphia and, in characteristic Munson fashion, transferred to Cornell, where she received her DVM (with distinction) in 1980. After veterinary school, she was a large animal practitioner in Vergennes, Vermont, and a small animal practitioner in Brewer, Maine. Dr Munson was trained in pathology at Cornell University, and she specialized in wildlife pathology, through residency at the Zoological Society of San Diego. She received her PhD in reproductive pathology from Cornell in 1988.
At work in Namibia, 2002.
Portrait of Dr Linda Munson.
Dr Munson began her career-long development of conservation medicine working for the Smithsonian Institution as part of the pathology program at the National Zoological Park. She started her academic career at the University of Tennessee. Following 6 years on its Veterinary School faculty, she was recruited to University of California, Davis, to head the pathology service and augment its wildlife health and pathology program. She remained at the university for the remainder of her career, rising to the rank of full professor while pursuing her protean interests in reproductive pathology and diseases of free-ranging and captive terrestrial wildlife.
Dr Munson had a worldwide influence in advancing veterinary medicine and pathology. She was at the center of a small group who developed and applied the concept of integrating animal health and, in particular, pathology surveillance programs into endangered species conservation. Her investigations centered on the reproductive health and management of captive populations, the effects of infectious disease on wild populations of Serengeti lions and wild dogs, and the pathogenesis of diseases affecting cheetahs. Her work with cheetahs has become a model of how comprehensive disease surveillance programs can further the health and welfare of animals within Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plans (SSPs) and Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs). In addition to her role as the SSP pathologist for cheetahs, she was an active advisor to the SSPs and TAGs for many other felid and canid species, including lions, jaguars, Mexican and Red wolves, and bears. In recent years, Dr Munson played a central role in investigating the impact of disease on populations of the endangered Channel Island fox as part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service Island Fox Recovery Team. In recognition of her lifelong commitment to the conservation, care, and understanding of zoo and free-ranging wildlife, she received the Emil Dolensek Award from the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, its highest honor.
Dr Munson was passionate about training veterinary pathologists, and she had a profound influence on a generation of veterinary pathologists from around the world. She recruited, taught, nurtured, harangued, and prepared them for success. In her role as head of the University of California, Davis, residency training program, she managed to incorporate an intensive training process into a service that had a reputation for advancing patient care with results of the highest diagnostic quality. She took a personal interest in every resident’s progress and counseled each through his or her professional development. She had high expectations and inspired trainees to meet them. A cadre of trainees pursued wildlife pathology and medicine under her direction. These individuals are now leaders in the field across the country. In a similar way, her passion for teaching encouraged many veterinary students to pursue careers in wildlife and conservation medicine.
A key part of Dr Munson’s diverse professional commitments was her involvement in the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. She was a chair of its Certification Examination Committee and a member of its Board of Councilors; she served as its president in 2004. She led many initiatives in the college, with a focus on understanding the evolving role of pathologists in animal research and the health care industry. Her work is helping direct advances in training that meets these needs. In 2007, she received the ACVP Presidential Award in honor of her career-long dedication in service to the profession. The college greatly benefited from her wise council, forthright analysis of issues, and consistent advocacy for quality.
Conservation, veterinary education, and pathology were the core of Dr Munson’s life. She had tendrils of influence throughout this community such that everywhere she went, she made lifelong friends. She was respected for her tenacity, intelligence, and ability to say what needed to be said. Nothing was impossible, and it was possible to do everything with a sense of humor and perspective. She made every decision and performed every action with integrity, knowing that it was the right thing to do. Her life was full of intangibles of wit, boundless energy, independent spirit, and an appreciation for existence. She leaves a community saddened by her loss but inspired by her example and thankful for having known her.
An endowment has been established in support of a fellowship through the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. Donations in her name can be sent to American College of Veterinary Pathologists, 2424 American Lane, Madison, WI 53704.