Angela Baysinger Memorial Lecture

Angela was born February 14, 1967, at Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, IL to Jerry and Kathryn (Gough) Wright. After living on several Air Force Bases across the country where her father was stationed, Angela grew up on a rural farm near Martinsburg, Missouri. It was there at a young age that she gained a true love of farm animals, especially pigs. She attended the University of Missouri – Columbia where she earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1992. After graduation, she moved to Sutton, Nebraska, where she practiced at Sutton Veterinary Clinic. She was united in marriage to Jerry Baysinger August 8, 1993.

Angela left practice in 1995 to pursue a master’s degree in epidemiology at the University of Nebraska/USDA Meat Animal Research Center – Clay Center, NE. While there she served as the Interim Extension Swine Specialist. After almost 20 years of various positions with animal health companies as a technical swine veterinarian and with Farmland Foods as Vice President of On-farm Food Safety, Angela accepted a position with Merck Animal Health. There, she first was a Technical Service Veterinarian and then later was the North America Animal Well-being Lead until the time of her death. Animal well-being was her passion, and she has championed many educational conferences to help bridge livestock producers with end-users/ consumers. This position led her to obtain a master’s degree in Animal Welfare, Ethics, and Law from the University of Edinburgh in 2021.

Angela’s professional memberships included the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization, International Poultry Welfare Alliance, Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, National Pork Board, North American Meat Institute, and numerous other organizations. In early 2024, she was installed as president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, an association that she was involved with for many years and truly loved. She also contributed to science with peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and many abstracts over the years.

Watch Dr Baysinger’s AASV Member Recollection Video to learn more about her personal history, her professional contributions to swine health and welfare, and her lasting impact on colleagues, mentees, and friends. A few of her professional accomplishments and awards include:

• Feather in Her Cap Award – 2021
• AASV Meritorious Service Award – 2021
• PAACO Service Award – 2022
• AASV Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture – 2022
• AVMA Animal Welfare Committee – 2013-2024
• PAACO Board of Directors – 2004-2007 and 2011-2024