Dr. Michael Yaeger may be the quintessential land grant professor, excelling in each of the areas of teaching, research and service.

Because of that prowess, the professor of veterinary pathology is the recipient of the Iowa State University Regents Award for Faculty Excellence.

“He is one of the most productive and respected professors on the College of Veterinary Medicine faculty,” writes Dr. Joseph Haynes, professor and chair of the Department of Veterinary Pathology.

Yaeger is extremely humble and is quick to point out many others have been instrumental in his successes.

“I just come to work and try to do a good job,” he says. “There are very many other deserving faculty members in the college that should receive this award.”

A member of the veterinary medicine faculty since 1996, Yaeger initially worked in the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory before joining the Department of Veterinary Pathology. His desire to teach fueled his move to the academic department.

Yaeger has proven to be an outstanding teacher, receiving the Carl J. Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award in 2010. He currently teaches in three upper level courses in the DVM curriculum.

“I do enjoy teaching,” he said. “The students keep you on your toes and are usually quite versed in the topics we discuss.”

Yaeger further exemplifies the land grant mission through his service activities, serving on numerous college and department committees. For the past three years, he has been the chair of the college’s Student Awards Committee, which is tasked with distributing scholarships and awards each year.

And for 20 weeks each year, he has responsibilities with the biopsy and postmortem diagnostic services in the college.

A frequent collaborator with other faculty members in the college, Yaeger is currently working on research projects with Dr. Qijing Zhang and Dr. Orhan Sahin in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine and Dr. Paul Plummer in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine. These research projects pertain to significant diseases of production animals.

Collaborative research is a must for Yaeger since he doesn’t have a research lab of his own, with a small percentage of his appointment is devoted to research.

October 2015