Our Dr. D Crowdfunding campaign may have ended at midnight, but it was an epic ending. Your support raised more than twice what we hoped for, all of which is being added to the scholarship. It will provide an outstanding student with a new beginning as he or she pursues the dream of becoming a Cornell Veterinarian. Following in the footsteps of Dr. D - and many of you - will be less daunting with this funding. We look forward to introducing you to the first Alexander de Lahunta Scholar in the fall. Many thanks.

Only a few more hours left to collect donations here for the Dr. D scholarship, but your generosity blew us at Cornell away weeks ago. Thank you so very much for your support of the scholarship and sharing your stories!  Dr. D has clearly given us all a lifetime of memories, wisdom, humour, dedication, and inspiration. Your reminiscences and well-wishes stand as testament to Dr. D's legacy and the enormous impact he has had on generations of Cornellians and animal lovers.You're the best, and have our sincere gratitude for helping us celebrate the best: Dr. D.  

Hands/paws up in celebration!

And another submission for you to enjoy, courtesy of Will Wilhelm, Class of '78: 

There are so many things Dr. deLahunta taught, but the most important things were his dedication to the profession, and his concern for students and other veterinarians.  He should be officially known as the Father of Veterinary Neurology and Neuroanatomy.  I was tremendously lucky to have been a student of his, and I had the chance to thank him for his efforts to try to teach us. If there ever was a model for what a veterinarian should aspire to be, it is Alexander deLahunta.

We second Will's opinion!

Reflections of Dr. D from Ed MacKillop '04

Dr. D was at the center of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine curriculum and teaching hospital for over 40 years.  The sheer magnitude of his contributions to the college and the discipline of veterinary neurology is massive.  His focus, however, was always on the building blocks of our profession: veterinary students.  Anatomy, neurology and neuropathology can be both dry and esoteric but they came alive in his classroom.  He taught with a verve and charisma that drew students into his lectures even when they weren’t required to be.  Despite being academic giant, he was always available to his students and readily approachable.  I have met other great scholars and veterinarians in my career but I have never met a more humble and gracious teacher.

One of Dr. D’s goals was to teach a vertically integrated curriculum: anatomy, physical examination, imaging, gross and histopathology.  He knew that this was how to best understand neurology and at least 2 generations of veterinarians at Cornell learned it this way.  Veterinary students left Cornell with a better understanding of neurology than some neurology residents.  He also made sure to emphasize that terminology matters.  Medicine, both human and veterinary, is bogged down by meaningless eponyms, confusing language, and misnomers.  Dr. D. cut through awkward verbiage and spoke precisely but never condescendingly.  The hope in establishing an endowed scholarship is to continue to teach and support veterinary students the “Dr. D way” and to carry on his legacy for the next generation. 

The snow is flying in Ithaca, making it a great time to tuck in and share warm thoughts and great memories of Dr. D. We know you can picture this one!

Bob Efron '75 recalls this hilarious sprint with Dr. D:

Dr. D is racing down the hall with 5 students in tow trying desperately to keep up with him. I join this energized group as others do assuming there is an emergency. When Dr. D gets to his office he addresses the eager crowd. "Why are you following me?  I'm just going to my office"!  Can you imagine the energy output if there really was an emergency?

Cornellians are amazing. THANK YOU! To all of Dr. D'S many fans, friends, and his extended Cornell family, we can't say enough about your generosity. But we can continue to share some  of the fantastic stories about this incredible man. Please check back for more, and keep them coming through November! And know that any funds over and above our goal will be added to the scholarship and will help even more students. Many, many thanks.

Your gift has us off to a great start - one worthy of a legend. And that brings to mind Dr. Ed MacKillop's funny story to share with you.

Every veterinarian that passed through Cornell from 1958 to 2005 has a memory or a story of Dr. D.  His whirlwind lectures, Friday Neuro Rounds, finding him jogging around the campus, his gruff New England accent and euphemisms (“bouncing around like a pea on a hot skillet”).  I remember an overwhelming sense of defeat after taking the final exam for his neuroanatomy and clinical neurology course.  I doubt I am the only one.  How did it seem so easy during the lectures and yet so difficult when presented with the same information, one rapid fire slide at a time?  When it came time for applied anatomy, I knew what I was up against.  I studied assiduously hoping not to relive the horror the neurology final exam. I made sure to focus on the minutiae since I felt that this might be prime material for Dr. D.  A short paragraph in the applied anatomy text noted that a contrast study of the nasolacrimal duct is called dacryocystorhinography.  My friends and I concluded this had to be on the test.  The time came for my oral exam and I entered Dr. D’s Thunderdome: a horse stall with series of radiographs, anatomical specimens and the teaching animals (Pollox the greyhound and others).  I did my best and it came time for the last question.  He pointed to the medial canthus of the eye on a skull radiograph and asked: “If I inject a little bit of contrast into the nasolacrimal puncta, what do you call that?”  Elated, I belted out “DACRYOCYSTORHINOGRAPHY.”  Big smile on his face, he tells me that I’m right.  He then tells me that this isn’t really a question on the test and my friends put him up to asking me this question.  Classic D.