After helping guide nearly 2,000 veterinary students’ education and careers, Jacquelyn Pelzer retires
Every veterinary college graduate can name faculty who inspired them and helped shape their future, but there are few at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine who have affected so many lives and careers in profound and powerful ways – before, during and after they were students -- as Jacquelyn Pelzer.
Pelzer retired June 30 as assistant dean of student support and admissions for the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program at the veterinary college. She also served as an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Population Health Sciences.
Her husband, Kevin Pelzer, professor emeritus, retired last year after 36 years at the veterinary college as an instructing clinician in large animal medicine and epidemiology.
Jacquelyn Pelzer joined the veterinary college faculty in 2009 after working in private veterinary practice for over a decade following her 1997 graduation with a DVM from the veterinary college at Virginia Tech. Prior to entering veterinary college, she was a professional surfer.
Pelzer was the first student presented a white coat at the veterinary college – her maiden name was Bailey and at the front of the alphabetical list in the inaugural white coat ceremony.
“There's something about my experience here,” Pelzer said, recalling her days as a veterinary student. “I can tell you about almost every day of when I was in vet school, and what that was like, and it was a wonderful experience.
“But the more we learn about education, the more we know there's different, probably better, ways that we can teach and create a very positive student experience. I was just really passionate about that piece, just making sure that they graduated, being really proud and happy of where they went after school, because I wanted them to have a wonderful experience like I did.”
Dan Givens, dean of the veterinary college, pointed out that 1,949 veterinary students have graduated during Pelzer’s tenure, each of them affected in positive ways by Pelzer’s work.
“She provided prospective students care and logistical information that they assessed as critical for navigating the admissions process,” Givens said. “And then they realize that Jacque Pelzer provided attentive care and concern and logistical support for helping them get through school. And then they tell me the stories of after they became veterinarians and they hit some crisis, they contacted Jacque Pelzer, and she provided care and concern and logistical support, and they continued on their path. Those are the really impactful narratives that cannot be summarized just by statistics.”
Right up until her final few days at the veterinary college, words of praise have poured in from current and former students.
“Words cannot begin to express the impact Dr. Pelzer has had on my veterinary journey,’ said Class of 2027 student Malik Torres. “As an out-of-state student, paying for vet school was very concerning and I was uncertain how I would overcome the insurmountable financial burden. Dr. Pelzer changed my life by offering me a full scholarship so that I would no longer be burdened by financial constraints and so that I could place all my energy into my studies.
“Additionally, Dr. Pelzer believed in me enough and saw leadership qualities in me to encourage me to run for class president. I am so grateful for everything that Dr. Pelzer has done for me and the way that she continues to impact students is nothing short of inspiring.”
Pelzer was a central figure in the college revamping its curriculum in the past decade and also in moving admissions to a process based on demonstrated competencies, not solely degrees and test scores.
Pelzer and Jennifer Hodgson, professor emerita who served as associate dean for professional programs before retiring in 2023, co-edited a textbook entitled “Veterinary Medical Education: A Practical Guide.”
“We were passionate about moving education to the future,” Pelzer said.
A major emphasis in the curriculum update at the college was aligning different subject matter in an academic year rather than keeping individual subjects in what Pelzer described as “silos.”
“For example, in anatomy, students were dissecting the abdomen and looking at the gastrointestinal tract,” Pelzer said, “Meanwhile, in physiology, they might have been covering cardiorespiratory. So the subject matter wasn’t really aligned.”
Pelzer’s impact extends well beyond the veterinary college.
“She has been incredibly supportive of the association,” said Talya George, executive director of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association. “With the association becoming more involved in the students’ college careers, she made it very easy to facilitate conversations, to facilitate events. And she's just been incredibly approachable and understanding, always available to answer an email, quickly answers a text, quickly calls me back if she can't talk right that second. She’s really, really phenomenal to work with.”
Brian Neumann '11 DVM '14 has experienced Pelzer’s impact firsthand from being an undergrad at Virginia Tech considering veterinary school to owning Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Alexandria and becoming president of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association.
“She set aside an hour for just sitting down with little freshman me who had nothing else going for him other than just some classes, didn’t really know where he was going but was going to try to get into vet school,” Neumann recalled. “Jacque sat down, answered every question, talked about every opportunity and took the time to not just repeat facts, but actually get to know me. I already felt like she was going to be a colleague.”
He was right about that. Today, Neumann says there is never a contract for his veterinary work that he doesn’t seek Pelzer’s counsel on, plus working with her closely as VVMA president to help guide the next generation of veterinarians.
“There’s only one Jacque Pelzer in this world,” Neumann said, “but there need to be a lot more like her in our veterinary community.”
