AASV is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Mike Wilson.
Mike Wilson passed away at his home in Australia on February 21. Dr. Wilson was an early member of the American Association of Swine Practitioners (Veterinarians), presented the 1982 Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture, and was awarded the Howard Dunne Memorial Award in 1996. He also participated in the first meeting of the International Pig Veterinary Society in Cambridge, U.K., in 1969 and was very active with the IPVS for decades. He had a distinguished academic career but, in addition, he had success in a diversity of other fields.
Born in Cambridgeshire, UK, son of a butcher, Mike left school early. While working as a poultry post-mortem technician at Houghton Research Centre, he became determined to pursue a career as a veterinarian. That meant cycling miles to evening classes in Cambridge. He succeeded in obtaining a place at Bristol University Veterinary School.
Following graduation in 1962 he became a graduate student gaining a PhD for studies on lead poisoning in calves. A faculty position at Bristol provided the opportunity for a sabbatical in the Pathology Department at Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Canada. In 1969 Mike returned to Guelph as Head of the new unit of Clinical Research within the Department of Clinical Studies. In 1979 Mike became chair of the Department of Clinical Studies and in the mid-1980’s helped create the new Department of Population Medicine.
Mike’s area of teaching and research at OVC was in swine health management and he was an internationally recognized leader in this field, often promoting concepts of husbandry and disease control that were well ahead of their general acceptance. He eventually put some of these ideas (such as multi-site production) into practice by owning or co-owning a number of pig farming enterprises, including New Fashion Pork. In the 1980’s and early 90’s, Mike along with 3 other internationally-recognized swine veterinarians (Al Leman, Mike Muirhead and Richard Penny) produced a monthly newsletter (Pigletter) for swine veterinarians and industry leaders that was widely distributed, and in addition, the Pigletter group did speaking tours around the world.
Mike always looked to provide practical solutions to real problems. This was the stimulus to founding Langford Laboratories to provide customized, autogenous vaccines with a rapid turnaround, using novel production technology and vaccinating sows to provide maternal antibody protection for the critical neonatal period. Gradually dossiers were put together that produced approval for a variety of general use vaccines for various species. Another of Mike’s practical innovations was to combine antigens for different diseases to reduce the number of vaccinations. Combinations and vaccine regimes that have since become standard.
Anything that Mike Wilson turned his attention to was pursued with a thirst for gaining knowledge, understanding problems and conceiving solutions. Whether it was his beekeeping hobby or choosing a novel location for a prize-winning winery in New Zealand, he applied his unique approach.
When Mike turned his attention to Standardbred horse breeding after leaving academia, he started with an analysis of the stud book, his knowledge of which became encyclopedic. Then using that data, and a holistic scientific approach to selective breeding and foal raising, Mike with his partner Dr Julie Yager, built Warrawee Farms, Rockwood, Ontario. It became one of the most successful farms in North America. Warrawee bred horses have been World Champions. In 2012 Mike was named breeder of the Year by Standardbred Canada.
In 2022 Mike and Julie retired to Australia, Julie’s native land and where they had spent many Canadian winters. Our deepest sympathy to Julie and Mike’s children Matthew and Sophie and their families. Mike Wilson was an essentially modest man who never flaunted his towering intellect. He has been a prime example of the varied pathways that the veterinary degree can provide.
[Contributed by Robert Friendship and Chas Povey]