Thomas E. Toth honored with emeritus status
Thomas E. Toth of Blacksburg, Va., professor of virology in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech, was conferred with the title "professor emeritus" by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting March 27.
The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors and associate professors, administrative officers, librarians, and exceptional staff members who have given exemplary service to the university and who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1982, Toth spent most of his 23 years at the university as the sole faculty member in virology, fulfilling the teaching, research, and service roles of that discipline. He was the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on 43 funded research projects totaling approximately $2.36 million, and served as director of the college’s flow cytometry laboratory, a unique and high-demand research facility serving the entire campus since its inception in 1985.
He also received numerous awards and recognitions for his innovation, dedication and success in teaching, including Teacher of the Year, College Teaching Excellence Award, and the Carl Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award.
A Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, Toth received his D.V.M. degree from the University of Budapest (Hungary), and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. Its flagship facilities, based at Virginia Tech, include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which treats more than 40,000 animals annually. Other campuses include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, home of the Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. The VMRCVM annually enrolls approximately 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and graduate students, is a leading biomedical and clinical research center, and provides professional continuing education services for veterinarians practicing throughout the two states.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
