College of Veterinary Medicine's Stockham being honored by American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015
MANHATTAN — Steve Stockham, professor of veterinary clinical pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, will receive the 2015 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology Educator Award.
The award is in recognition of Stockham's contributions to clinical pathology education, which were cited as diverse and far-reaching. It will be presented at the business meeting of the society, also known as ASVCP, in Minneapolis in mid-October.
"I'm extremely fortunate to be recognized for my teaching activities by my colleagues in the ASVCP," Stockham said. "There are many very dedicated and talented clinical pathologists in academia and we are privileged to have intelligent and motivated students in our courses and programs."
Melinda Wilkerson, director of the Clinical Immunology/Flow Cytometry Laboratory in the diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department at Kansas State University, nominated Stockham for the educator award.
"I have witnessed Dr. Stockham's teaching approach in the sophomore veterinary clinical pathology course at K-State and am amazed by his ability to engage students and to model for them complex thought processes that allow them to apply pathophysiology and principles of clinical pathology in clinical cases," Wilkerson said. "Students in his class have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning by being active in the process for he challenges them to think and apply the course material. Dr. Stockham also provides students many opportunities to practice what they are learning so they develop strategies that increase their chances to file the information into long-term memory. I have also personally benefited from Dr. Stockham's mentoring and successfully passed the American College of Veterinary Pathologists board exam in clinical pathology in 2003."
Department head M.M. Chengappa added, "Dr. Stockham is an outstanding teacher and mentor, as well as a true asset to our department and college. It says a lot about him as an instructor and as a person that his colleagues as well as his students hold him in such high regard to nominate him for this award that recognizes him on a national level. We are fortunate to have a man of his caliber in our department."
Stockham earned a bachelor's degree in 1970 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1972, both from Kansas State University. He then earned a master's degree in pathology from Michigan State University. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, an honorary member of the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, and was elected to the hall of fame of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology in 2013.
A member at Kansas State University for 14 years, Stockham is actively engaged in teaching, diagnostic service, research and institutional service. He has been involved in teaching at many levels, including veterinary and graduate student instruction, resident training, curricular changes and faculty development. He has 38 years of teaching experience in the veterinary curriculum, with 31 years as a primary instructor and course coordinator. Most of his classroom teaching has been in veterinary clinical pathology courses in which he uses a combination of lectures, case-based discussions and online microscopy methods to engage students and promote learning.
For his teaching excellence, he has received 25 teaching awards in the last 28 years, including the prestigious Norden/Pfizer Distinguished Teaching Awards in 1987, 1998 and 2012; the Bayer Animal Health Teaching Excellence Award in 2005, 2009 and 2013; and the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching in 1994.
