Head and shoulders image of Dr. Ken Wells, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient. Image possibly taken near time of presentation.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Kenneth Frank Wells was born in 1914 in Swan River, Manitoba and graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1938 with DVM and DVS degrees. After practicing general veterinary medicine at Weston, Ontario, he was appointed to the faculty at Macdonald College, University of McGill, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec. He later abandoned the purely academic life and chose a career with the Health of Animals Division of the Canada Department of Agriculture. Dr. Wells was named associate chief veterinarian in 1949, having responsibility for contagious diseases control. When foot and mouth disease struck the livestock population of Saskatchewan in 1952, Dr. Wells was entrusted with the task of directing the program of eradication. Under his direction the campaign was so successful that Canadian meats and livestock were restored to world markets within 12 months. Dr. Wells was an active force in the establishment of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, representing the federal government throughout the negotiations that resulted in the significant federal contribution to the capital costs. Dr. Wells served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine; corresponding member of the French Academy of Veterinary Medicine; Canadian delegate to the Permanent Committee of the World Veterinary Association; and to the International Office of Epizootics, and chairman of the Canadian Interdepartmental Codex Alimentarius Committee. He received an honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1971. Dr. Wells died in 1997.