• Mrs. Elizabeth White, RVT; Director, Veterinary Technology Program.
• Associate Professor of Veterinary Technology .
• A.S. Veterinary Technology; L.A. Pierce College; A.H.T.
• Advisor, RVT Club.
• State of California Outstanding RVT of the Year (non-private practice) awarded by CVMA 2000.

One of my earliest memories is sitting on our back steps with an arm around one of my father's hunting Beagles. I had probably just turned three, because I remember it was a warm summer day, and the dog was panting, moving my arm up and down. I grew up in a very small town in upstate New York, where the animals were not treated as house pets, but rather as working members of the family. They were well taken care of, but not pampered. I can never remember a time in my life when there weren't animals around. As a child on through high school, we had the usual parade of dogs, cats, tortoises, mice, gerbils, hamsters, fish, etc.. I had seventeen stuffed animals on my bed, and each one had a name and story behind it. I developed a passion for horses, but living circumstances prevented me from having one of my own. To substitute, I cleaned stalls in exchange for riding lessons, was a counselor at a summer riding camp and collected anything equine.

In my junior year in high school, I had the opportunity to buy a used car, so I got a job at McDonalds. Hated the job, loved the car and the extra pocket money. One of my friends had to leave her job at a local animal hospital, and asked me if I wanted to work there instead. I took the job, and since then have never worked anywhere else besides an animal hospital.

After a false start in forestry, I moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and began working... you guessed it! In an animal hospital. It was there that I heard about the Pierce College Animal Health Technology Program (as it was called back then). I had to take one semester of pre-requisite classes, and then I was accepted into the program. In 1978 I passed my State Board Exam, and continued working at a small animal hospital. One day I got a phone call from the director of the AHT program asking me if I would like to teach part-time. I loved being a technician, and worked for a terrific veterinarian, yet teaching seemed like a golden opportunity to stretch myself professionally. I said yes, and started teaching part-time in the fall semester of 1983. Around the same time, I began working in a hospital that treats companion exotics as well as dogs and cats. I still work there one day a week, and during the summer when school is out. It is a definite advantage for me as a teacher to be a working technician. But teaching at Pierce and operating the program is my main professional endeavor. I have a history of longevity, I guess. I have been an RVT for twenty years now. Fifteen of those years have been spent on faculty at Pierce. My job here has evolved from part-time teacher to director. I never get bored with this job, and never wish I had chosen some other career. I love Pierce College: the farm with its variety of animals, my colleagues in the Agriculture department, and most of all, the RVT students themselves.

• Dr. Leland S. Shapiro, Director Pre-Veterinary Science Program.
• Professor of Animal Sciences.
• Advisor, Pre-Vet Club.
• B.S., Dairy Science, minor in biology; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
• M.S., Mammary Physiology (Agriculture), minor in Agriculture Education; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
• Ph.D., Reproductive Physiology; minor in Agriculture Education; Oregon State University, Corvallis.
• Post Doctoral studies - bioethics - Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Iowa State University -biotechnology - Miami University of Ohio.
• Licensed Pasteurizer, State of California.
• Registered Small Animal Dietitian Certificate in Goat Reproduction and A.I., University of California, Davis.
• UC Davis "Mentor of Veterinary Medicine."
• Awards and Commendations:
  • "Man of the Year" Award, State Assembly (Assemblyman Robert Cline).
  • State of California "Professor of the Month" Award, L.A. Pierce College.
  • NISOD Excellence in Teaching Award; Austin, Texas.
  • Commendation, City of Los Angeles, Councilman Hal Bernson.
  • Commendation, City of Simi Valley, Mayor Elton Gallegly.
  • Commendation and Lifetime Membership to ASO, L.A. Pierce College.
• Member Ethics Committee, L.A. Pierce College.
• The Dairy Shrine Club Holstein Association.
• American Dairy Science Association.
• Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens.
• Association of Veterinary Technician Educators, Inc.
• Gamma Sigma Delta (Honor Society of Agriculture).
• California Agriculture Ambassadors, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo.

• Rebecca Yates, DVM: full time professor and program veterinarian.

• Dr. Sherry Grisham, DVM: adjunct faculty; small animal surgery and anesthesia.

• Christa Slattery: adjunct faculty; lab animals.

• Scott Henderson, RVT: full time lab assistant.