Oil and water. Cyclone and Hawkeye fans.
Some things just don’t mix.
But don’t tell Dr. Chris Chase (DVM ’80) that you can’t have a career that focuses on both research and teaching.
“I can tell you that I have had my skeptics at SDSU (South Dakota State University), they said you can’t do both,” said Chase. “The key is having good people working with you that you can delegate to, and I have had great support staff from administrative assistants to research associates and graduate students.
“It takes a team to do both well.”
Chase and his team have done both well for quite a long time. The professor emeritus of veterinary and biomedical science at SDSU has received multiple awards during his career and this past fall was named a recipient of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s highest alumni award – the Stange Award for Meritorious Service.
His research career has featured over 120 published scientific papers, received more than $9 million in research funding, and mentored 50 PhD and MS students and nearly 100 undergraduate students.
One of his nominators for the Stange Award wrote… “His approach to teaching is marked by a genuine care for the success and well-being of his students. He goes above and beyond to provide guidance, resources, and support, ensuring that each student could thrive in their academic pursuits.”
Chase’s success as a researcher and educator allowed him to branch out. And branch out he did. He belongs to at least a dozen professional veterinary organizations, divided into practitioner-based and research/science-based groups.
“When I came back to SDSU, it was important to me to stay engaged with clinical veterinary medicine, so what we worked on in the lab had translational relevance,” Chase said. “To be relevant, I needed to be engaged with both practitioners and science-based groups.”
Chase just doesn’t belong to these professional organizations, he was actively involved. He has served as an officer multiple times, sat on countless committees and has been a member of the AVMA House of Delegates for 14 years.
“These are great organizations and organized veterinary medicine provides the guidance for the future,” he said. “I love this profession and the many organizations associated with it.”
If those weren’t time consuming enough, Chase also is the co-founder/president chief scientific officer of RTI (Research, Technology, Innovation), an animal health contract research organization.
RTI started with two full-time and one part-time employee. Today, the company, with 25 employees, has expanded into a wide variety of microbiology services, along with core animal health services.
Throughout Chase’s numerous roles, one common denominator stood out – his daily interaction with people. It’s what he says he has enjoyed the most about his years as a veterinarian.
That runs from his very first job in Viborg, S.D. as an associate veterinarian where the clinic’s owner shaped Chase’s ability to think big or the “crusty” old client who told that same boss that Chase “would probably be a good vet.”
Great mentors have provided counsel to Chase throughout his career and he hopes he has been able to do the same.
“I have the opportunity to have a lot of students and faculty who have come into my life, and I hope I have lifted them to a better place in their lives.”
December 2025
