The Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC) has named Mike Apley, DVM, as recipient of the AVC Consultant Of The Year award for 2024.
The award, sponsored by Zoetis, recognizes outstanding achievements in beef-cattle medicine. Apley is the 38th recipient of the AVC Consultant of the Year honor, which was first presented in 1986.
The annual AVC Consultant of the Year honor goes to an AVC member who is active in veterinary consulting or practice in the beef industry. Nominees must have made an impact in the beef industry and be active in professional organizations. AVC members nominate their peers for the award, and the winner is selected by a committee of past recipients.
Apley was recognized with the 2024 award during the AVC annual winter meeting in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this week.
Valued Contributions As An Educator, Practitioner
Apley began his veterinary medicine career with a general practice in central Kansas, followed by a feedlot consulting/contract research practice in Colorado.*
He later joined the faculty at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine and worked there until 2005. He then joined the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine as a professor of veterinary clinical sciences.
Today, as the E.J. Frick Professor in Veterinary Medicine, Apley currently teaches pharmacology and food animal courses and coordinates the advanced feedlot production medicine course.
This past May, the College of Veterinary Medicine appointed Apley as interim head of its department of anatomy and physiology. He took over duties for Hans Coetzee, associate dean of research and graduate programs, who served as department head since 2016. Read Joe Montgomery’s complete article here: Mike Apley named interim head of anatomy and physiology
Nationally Recognized Food Animal Researcher
Apley received a bachelor’s degree in 1981, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1987 and a doctorate in clinical pharmacology in 1992, all from K-State. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology.
In addition to his role as an educator, Apley has conducted industry research focusing on infectious disease, antibiotic efficiency and resistance, drug residues and applications of drugs in food animals. He is well-known for his work with veterinarians and producers throughout the United States regarding the use of pharmaceutical drugs in food animals, as well as feedlot health.
Apley is a second-generation veterinarian from Larned, Kansas. His father, Dr. A.D. Apley, a 1964 Kansas State University veterinary medicine alumnus, operated the Apley Veterinary Clinic in Larned from 1964-2004.
AVC Award Criteria
The AVC Consultant of the Year award is presented annually to one veterinarian, based on the following criteria:
• Recognition for merits within the past year.
• Accomplishments in the practice of bovine medicine.
• Quality and competency of veterinary service.
• Activities in organized veterinary medicine and the beef cattle industry.
• Relationships and contributions to the beef cattle industry.
• Related activities and achievements that have impacted the fed cattle industry.
Dr. Apley is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, where he served as president from 2017-2018, the Academy of Veterinary Consultants, where he served as president from 2004-2005, and the American College of Veterinary Pharmacology, of which he served as president from 2007-2009.
He also has served as the vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.
Dr. Apley and his wife, Kathryn, have two sons: Doug and Kyle.
Information for this article was provided by Kansas State University: Dr. Mike Apley - K-State College of Veterinary Medicine
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