Richard L. Ott Endowed Chair in Small Animal Medicine and Research

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“I had Dick Ott as a student my first year of teaching and I don’t know who was learning more.  I’ve known many bright people.  I’ve known Rhodes Scholars, but I’ve never met anyone as brilliant as Dick Ott.”

---Paul Klavano, Professor Emeritus, former teacher of Ott

 “Dr. Ott was the most brilliant veterinarian I have known. His skill in diagnosis and treatment were astounding.  His daunting intelligence, personal energy and flamboyant style permeated the classroom and the operating room.  He expected excellence from his students, and they took up that challenge like an honor bestowed upon them.”

---Ghery Pettit, Professor Emeritus, former colleague of Ott

 The adjective that dominated every description of Richard L. Ott, whether delivered by colleagues, students or teachers, was “brilliant.”  His career at WSU spanned four decades.  In that time, his brilliance shone in his dedication to teaching and his commitment to students, his flashes of insight as a diagnostician, his groundbreaking research and his unwavering administrative leadership.

 Richard L. Ott was born June 12, 1923, in Santa Barbara, California and graduated from high school there.  He earned a B.S., magna cum laude, from then- Washington State College in 1944 and a D.V.M. from WSC in 1945. 

After graduation he set up practice in Yakima, Washington. During WW II, Ott served with the U.S. Army at the Tropical Disease Research Laboratory in Manila.  There he was a member of the research team that established the presence of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in the Philippine Islands.

Following his tour of duty, Ott reentered private practice at Petaluma, California, for one year.  He returned to Pullman and WSU in1949 as an assistant professor of small animal medicine and surgery.

In the lab, Dr. Ott searched for new approaches to the problems he saw daily in the clinic, focusing on the viral disease of dogs and cats. He carried on a legacy of clinical excellence established by John E. McCoy, who served the College from 1923 to 1952.  While at WSU, Ott was recognized by his colleagues as a peerless diagnostician.

Ott served the College of Veterinary Medicine as Chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine and Surgery from 1955 to 1973, guiding his department and the veterinary teaching hospital through an unprecedented period of growth and development.  He was an effective administrator and was instrumental in obtaining a grant from the U.S. Public Health Service to underwrite the complete renovation and enlargement of McCoy Hall.  He resigned his position in 1973, after almost two decades as chair, to become Associate Dean for Public Programs.  Ott retired in 1983.

Richard Ott’s most significant early research was in the field of preventative medicine, notably canine distemper prevention.  With John R. Gorham, Ott was the first to demonstrate the practicality of immunizing newborn animals. With Gorham, and R. Keith Farrell, Ott made important contributions to the understanding of rickettsial disease (salmon disease) of dogs in the Pacific Northwest.  Much of his own research focused on understanding and controlling leukemia in cats.

Ott published numerous research papers and textbook chapters, both as author and co-author and presented his findings to veterinary professionals in North America. He is remembered as a caring teacher who demanded his students’ best work and earned it. He served up challenging course work with a good dose of humor.  His students bestowed upon him the nickname, “King Richard.”

He was a charter diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the recipient of several awards in teaching and research.  His honors included recognition as the American Animal Hospital Associated Veterinarian of the Year (1962); and the American Veterinary Medical Association Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in the Field of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery (Gaines Medal 1964).  In 1965 Ott was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by senior veterinary students at WSU. He again was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association in 1975.  In 1984 he received the WSU Alumni Achievement Award.