The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) has named its minority scholarship fund in honor of Patricia M. Lowrie, senior advisor to the dean at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, founder of Vetward Bound, director of the MSU Women’s Resource Center, and a long-time champion of diversity and inclusion in the veterinary profession. The Patricia Lowrie Diversity Leadership Scholarship will be awarded to a veterinary student who has made significant contributions to enhancing diversity and inclusion at his or her institution.

“Pat Lowrie devoted the majority of her career to promoting diversity in the veterinary profession,” says Christopher Brown, dean of the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine. “She has been an important advocate and an impressive force for creating a more inclusive and diverse academic environment in veterinary colleges.”

Lowrie earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in zoology from Howard University. Her career advocating for diversity and recruiting underrepresented populations began when she was appointed the affirmative action officer for MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She later was appointed assistant to the dean for admissions and affirmative action and, she assumed the role of senior academic specialist and director of the Women’s Research Center at MSU.

Lowrie created Vetward Bound at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the most successful and longest-running programs in the country for the recruitment of underrepresented students to veterinary medicine. Vetward Bound has received federal funding for more than 30 years. She also obtained funding from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for summer research programs for underrepresented high school students to allow them to gain research experience by working alongside noted veterinary scientists.

At the Women’s Resource Center, her team addresses issues of individuals who are members of groups that are historically victims of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. A comprehensive, intentional strategy is her hallmark.

Lowrie has received many honors and awards, including the Outstanding Contribution to Minority Medical Education Award presented by the National Association of Minority Educators, MSU’s All University Excellence in Diversity Award, the AAVMC Iverson Bell Award, and appointment as senior fellow in the Office of Diversity Equity and Global Initiatives by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. In 2010, she delivered the AAVMC Recognition Lecture.

In addition, Lowrie has served on numerous local, state, and national committees relating to the recruitment, retention, and development of women and underrepresented individuals in higher education, and has devoted countless hours to the AAVMC, where she helped design and implement recruitment strategies. For many years, she provided visionary leadership to the AAVMC Multicultural Affairs Committee.

“I am humbled,” said Lowrie of the honor. “There have been so many people who have played a role in bringing me—bringing us—to this moment. And this scholarship is one way to encourage and reward the students who will join us and invigorate us and who will continue the fight beyond us. To have my name associated with that is truly an honor.”

She makes clear there is much to be done. The veterinary profession will not meet its potential while it does not reflect the makeup of society and the scholarship, to be truly effective, must play a part in a larger, intentional effort that includes multiple, concurrent strategies.

“Lowrie has advanced the recognition that an inclusive environment benefits institutions as well as individuals, and that diversity supports the advancement of knowledge as well as individual growth,” said Brown. “This is a considerable honor, and one that is profoundly well-deserved.”