When Dorothy Segal enrolled in Michigan State University’s veterinary program in the 1930s, she was one of only seven women in her class. She'd already overcome some obstacles–a car crash delayed her entrance into school by seven years–but it quickly became clear that there would be more challenges in front of Segal and the other young women in her class. 

According to Segal, the dean at that time, Dr. Ward Giltner, thought women had no place in the College, and even suggested that they drop out and return to the kitchen. The environment deterred others, but Segal stayed the course. In 1943, she became one of the two women in her class to graduate, and she ultimately developed a friendship with the dean.

Graduating during World War II, Segal was a part of the first growth spurt of female veterinarians in the country. Between 1910 and 1940, only 30 women in the United States earned veterinary degrees. Of those, only 21 went on to practice as veterinarians. When Segal became Genesee County’s first female veterinarian in 1944, she was one of 55 female veterinarians in the country.

By 1947, that number had risen to nearly 100, and the Association for Women Veterinarians was founded by Dr. Mary Knight Dunlap, who graduated from Michigan State University in 1933. Knight Dunlap wanted to create a support system for dealing with the professional problems, harassment, and discrimination that she had experienced throughout her career. In a 1947 letter titled, "How I happened to start this organization," Dunlap wrote the following:

"I felt that I had a duty to other women who might in their ignorance of actual conditions desire to enter the field. It is the duty of a pioneer to blaze a trail, to set up markers for the guidance of those who come after."

The determination of Knight Dunlap, Segal, and other early women veterinarians blazed a trail for generations of veterinarians to come. In 2009, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported that female veterinarians outnumbered their male counterparts for the first time in history. Today, women outnumber men in veterinary classes by more than three to one.

While an active member of the Association for Women Veterinarians, Segal liked to say that she was never the subject of discrimination, and that her education helped her in many ways. During her time at MSU, she was the editor of the College’s magazine, MSU Veterinarian. She went on to have an exciting career working on small animals, food inspections, dairy-cart horses, and goats on a farm. She was once called on-site to treat circus animals, including a caged panther.

But Segal’s gender wasn't always appreciated by clients, and she told the story of a farmer asking her why he hadn't been "warned" they were sending a woman. She and her husband, considered a mixed couple, experienced discrimination when trying to adopt. They did eventually adopt a boy and a girl.

In 2011, Segal was inducted into the Genesee Regional Women’s Hall of Fame. In March of 2015, she passed away at age 97. There is no doubt that Segal's fortitude paved the way for new generations of female veterinarians, including her granddaughter, Lauren Quinlan, who is currently a DVM candidate at Tufts University. 

The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine is honored to have been at the forefront of removing barriers to veterinary education and has, in the more than six decades since, maintained that commitment to education for all.