John Howe, DVM, has been elected president-elect of the AVMA. Photo courtesy University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine John Howe, DVM, of Grand Rapids, Minn., has been named president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). In this role, Dr. Howe will assist the president and substitute when necessary. He will also preside over all House of Delegates (HOD) sessions and serve as a voting member of the AVMA board of directors. Howe says he is looking forward to helping improve member satisfaction with various current and future initiatives. “We need to continue the strategy of measuring everything AVMA does to see if it is improving member value,” he said. “We need to continue to look at things strategically to see if they are appropriate and if we have the time and resources to do them.” Howe begins his presidential term in July 2019 after serving as president-elect for one year. A graduate of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, Howe has been an active member of the veterinary community for more than 30 years, both at the state and national level. He is currently the District VII representative on the AVMA board of directors. During his tenure on the board, Howe has chaired both the State Advocacy Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He has also served as AVMA board liaison to several of the association’s councils and committees, and as vice-chair of the AVMA Council on Veterinary Services and the Governance Performance Review Committee. Additionally, Howe has acted as an alternate delegate from Minnesota on the AVMA’s House of Delegates. At the state level, he has held the role of executive board member, vice president, and president of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). In 2011, Howe received the association’s Veterinarian of the Year Award. Four years later, he was awarded the Distinguished Veterinary Service Award. He is also a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the World Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Association (WAVMA), and the American Association of Fish Veterinarians (AAFV).
