South Georgia native earns top UGA honor
Apr. 21—ATHENS, Ga. — A University of Georgia professor with Moultrie ties has received the university's top public service award.
Dr. Doris Miller, professor and associate director of State Governmental Relations for the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, received the 2023 Walter Barnard Hill Fellow Award April 17.
The award, named for Chancellor Walter B. Hill, who led the university from 1899 to 1905, recognizes faculty for long-term achievements and special projects that have extraordinary impact, and collaborative efforts that improve quality of life in Georgia, according to a press release from the University of Georgia.
Miller, who has served on the UGA faculty for more than 40 years, is a native of Sylvester. Her father, Otis Z. Miller Sr., grew up in Moultrie, and the family has many relatives in the Colquitt County area.
Dr. Miller is nationally recognized as a leader in veterinary diagnostic and forensic pathology, the human-animal bond, and responsible citizenship in regard to companion animal stewardship, according to the press release. She has received the highest recognitions for service from the UGA vet program, the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.
She was the first woman elected to serve as president of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, where she played a key role in the development of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the nation's vital early warning system and guard against emerging and foreign animal diseases.
This program proved critical to COVID-19 readiness in Georgia and the U.S., where Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories had to fill gaps in the country's COVID-19 testing abilities, UGA said. Not only did they provide critical animal disease diagnostics in Georgia throughout the pandemic, they also provided crucial human testing, conducting over 100,000 human COVID-19 PCR tests.
While her appointment as a Walter Hill Fellow is primarily service-related, with little or no teaching requirement, Miller has taught forensic science and related subjects to veterinary students, post-DVM graduate students and residents, and undergraduates throughout her career. She has taught in 196 courses in six colleges, schools and institutes at UGA, and is currently teaching in six courses. Since 2015 she has taught a 2-hour workshop for 50 to 60 high school students at UGA's VETCAMP.
Since 2016 she has led 16 workshops on forensics and animal welfare for professionals throughout Georgia and in other states. As a result, she has trained generations of animal control officers, attorneys and shelter workers in the medical-legal aspects of forensic sciences.
"Dr. Miller helped organize the state-wide training program on Preventing and Prosecuting Animal Cruelty for local law enforcement officers and lawyers, in addition to presenting lectures on these subjects at animal law conferences," said Dr. Michael J. Topper, past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. "As these programs continue, it is hoped that the number of successful prosecutions will increase and ultimately lead to a decrease in the number of cases of animal cruelty in the state of Georgia."
