Thomas Carlyle Jones

September 29, 1912 (Boise, Idaho)—December 9, 2007 (Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Thomas Carlyle Jones, known to his friends as Carl or T.C., passed away at the age of 95 after a brief illness. The veterinary profession lost one of its most influential and respected leaders and the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) lost its founder, as it was Carl's effort and vision that led to the establishment of the ACVP in 1948.

Carl was born in Boise, Idaho, on September 29, 1912. His interest in animals began at the age of 11, when he lived on a dairy farm; he worked there one summer and later, while in high school, worked on a general farm during summer vacations. His first scientific interest was in dairy husbandry while attending the University of Idaho in his home state. After entering veterinary school at Washington State College in Pullman, his interest shifted to the diseases of dairy cattle. While at that institution, he worked, from the second year on, as a histology technician in the Department of Pathology. It was there that Hilton A. Smith, who was his professor of pathology, established Carl's love of veterinary pathology and the two began a professional relationship to last the rest of their lives. Upon his graduation from veterinary school with highest honors in 1935, Carl entered the United States Army for a distinguished career in the Veterinary Corps for 25 years. While serving at the Presidio at Monterey, California, Carl published his first article, “Modified horseshoeing for road marches,” following the ceremonies for the grand opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Apparently, that was the last time horses were welcome at the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1938 and 1939, Carl served at the Army Veterinary School, and then from 1939 to 1946, he served at the US Army Veterinary Research Laboratory at Front Royal, Virginia. There, as the officer in charge of research, he conducted studies on equine influenza (equine viral rhinopneumonitis), equine periodic opthalmia, and equine viral arteritis. While stationed in Virginia, Carl sought consultation with the then–Army Medical Museum (AMM), later the Army Institute of Pathology and then the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP). He established many professional relationships with medical pathologists, including James E. Ash, with whom he published on periodic ophthalmia. Ash, who was the Director of the AMM, was influenced by Carl's desire that the AMM establish a registry of veterinary pathology. The fact that Dr. Ash was married to the daughter of Dr. Denny Udall, a professor of medicine at the New York Veterinary College at Cornell University, also influenced his interest. The Registry of Veterinary Pathology came into being in 1943. In 1946, after the end of World War II, Carl was appointed Chief of the Veterinary Division and Registrar of the Registry of Veterinary Pathology of the AMM.

While at the AMM, Carl pursued his vision for a college of veterinary pathologists. Working with William H. Feldman, who had been appointed a consultant to the AMM by Dr. Ash, Carl's tireless energy and efforts gained approval of the American Veterinary Medical Association for the establishment of a specialty group. Following a meeting of 15 veterinary pathologists in Chicago in 1948, the ACVP was born with 42 charter members. Carl served as the ACVP's first Secretary-Treasurer, with William Feldman as the first President. Carl remained Secretary-Treasurer through 1950, served in that post again from 1954 through 1960, and served as President in 1963. He wrote the ACVP constitution and, in 1951, arranged the first examination.

Carl remained at the AMM until 1950, when he was stationed to West Germany to serve as Chief of the Veterinary Department of the Fourth Medical Field Laboratory. While in West Germany, he was the first American to be elected to that country's veterinary pathology association. Following his tour of duty in West Germany, he returned to the United States to serve once again as Chief of the Veterinary Division at the AFIP, from 1953 to 1957. In 1954, Carl, with C. A. Gleiser, published the classic text Veterinary Necropsy Procedures. Also during the 1950s, Carl began work with his former mentor, Hilton A. Smith, in writing a textbook of veterinary pathology. This was first published in 1957 and immediately became the standard textbook for veterinary pathology in schools of veterinary medicine and for those aspiring young pathologists preparing for the ACVP examination.

Carl retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1957. His career in the Army was distinguished by his being awarded the Hoskins Medal, the Legions of Merit, and the Certificate of Merit from the AFIP. In 1957, he began a new career as Director of Pathology at the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital and as Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. At Angell, he revitalized the Department of Pathology, obtained funding for an additional floor to be added to the hospital and devoted to the Department of Pathology, and established a training program in veterinary pathology. He also served as consultant to several Harvard Medical School–affiliated hospitals. At Harvard, he not only concentrated on diseases of dogs and cats, but also continued his interest in diseases of laboratory animals, which he had begun while at the AFIP. In 1953, he established the first course on diseases of laboratory animals at the AFIP, which became an instant success and remained so for many years. In 1963, he was promoted to Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

In 1967, Carl left the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital to assume a full-time position at the New England Regional Primate Research Center in Southboro, Massachusetts, an integral component of Harvard Medical School. There, he was named Associate Director and promoted to Professor of Pathology at the Medical School. With the death of Smith, Carl was joined by Dr. Ronald D. Hunt in preparing the fourth and fifth editions of Veterinary Pathology. In 1978, Carl joined Kurt Benirschke and F.M. Garner in editing a two-volume set, Pathology of Laboratory Animals. In the 1980s, Carl was invited by the International Life Science Institute to participate with Dr. Ulrich Mohr, a medical pathologist in Hanover, Germany, to organize a series of short courses on the pathology of laboratory animals, with each course devoted to a body system or species. These were predominantly held in Hanover, but also in Japan and the United States. Each course resulted in a monograph edited by Carl, Dr. Mohr, and Dr. Hunt.

After Carl's wife, Doratha Anne Bratt, passed away, he left Harvard and New England and moved to Washington, DC, in 1994. There, he worked on the sixth edition of Veterinary Pathology, which was published in 1996. He ultimately moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his close friend and partner, Joyce Blalock, where he continued to participate in local veterinary pathology group meetings. He also never missed an ACVP meeting while in the United States, making his last appearance in 2006 at the age of 94.

Carl's unique and invaluable abilities have been sought by countless institutions throughout his career. A list of a few of his past affiliations and honors includes: Member of the Graduate Council, George Washington University; Research Associate in Pathology, Cancer Research Institute, New England Deaconess Hospital; Alumnus of the year (1963), College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University; Chairman, Council of Research, American Veterinary Medical Association; Consultant to the National Institutes of Health, Division of General Medical Sciences, and National Cancer Institute; Consultant and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, AFIP; Member, Committee of Animal Health of the Agricultural Board of the National Academy of Sciences; Consultant in Pathology to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; Associate Editor, Pathologia Veterinaria; Chairman, Advisory Board of Veterinary Specialties, American Veterinary Medical Association; Consultant, West Roxbury and Providence Veterans Administration Hospital; Consultant on Comparative Pathology, World Health Organization; and Member, Subcommittee of Comparative Pathology, National Academy of Sciences. A most distinguished honor was Carl's election as President of the United States and Canadian Division of the International Academy of Pathology from 1970 to 1971. In 1971, he was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from Ohio State University and was named a distinguished member of the ACVP. At the 2002 ACVP meeting, Dr. Jones received the Olafason Award.

No other veterinary pathologist has equaled the contributions of Thomas Carlyle Jones to our college and profession. He will be missed by his many friends and colleagues throughout the world. He leaves his son, Don Carl Jones, of Madison, Wisconsin; his daughters: Sylvia Garfield, of West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Ann L. Willis, of Heights Town, New Jersey; and eight grandchildren: Todd Jones, Karin Myers, Eric Jones, Andrew Garfield, James Garfield, Avery Willis, Kingsley Willis, and Goreleigh Willis.