- Email: [email protected]
Professor Robert M. Kenney
Animal Reproduction Science 121S (2010) S4
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Animal Reproduction Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/anireprosci
Obituary
Professor Robert M. Kenney
Professor Robert M. Kenney died in May 2008 at the age of 83. A veterinarian with advanced training in surgery and pathology, Bob Kenney devoted his career to clinical service, research, and teaching veterinary and graduate students. He made several pioneering advances in clinical equine reproduction. In his 1963 doctoral dissertation, he introduced the concept, established the scientific basis, and developed the methodology for interpretation of the uterine biopsy in the mare. He also introduced methods for the systematic evaluation of fertility in stallions and mares and invented the skim milk-glucose diluent for stallion semen, known as the Kenney extender. Bob also studied anti-sperm antibodies as a cause of infertility in stallions. Bob Kenney grew up in Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. Straight from high school he entered the United 0378-4320/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2010.04.103
States Navy where he served in the Pacific theatre during World War II as a medical corpsman assisting pathologists with the recovery of downed fighter pilots. He returned from the war to attend Rhode Island College and then Brown University, before studying veterinary medicine at Oklahoma A&M University. After an Internship in surgery at Cornell University, he returned to private veterinary practice in rural Vermont. In 1958, he returned to Cornell for graduate study in veterinary pathology, and after completing his PhD, was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in 1963. After a short time he moved to a similar position at Cornell before moving back again to the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. There he advanced to Full Professor in 1975 and to Emeritus Professor in 1992. Among Professor Kenney’s career honors were the Bartlett Award of the Society for Theriogenology, the Distinguished Educator Award of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and induction into the Equine Reproduction Hall of Fame established by the Gluck Foundation at the University of Kentucky. Bob cherished his association with ISER. He served on the organizing committee for nearly two decades, and as the invited Honorary Chairman of the 1998 Symposium in South Africa. At the Symposia, Bob took advantage of every opportunity to meet and to encourage new contributors to pursue their research ideas and goals. His ongoing mentoring included invitation to visit our group at Penn. His home on the campus of New Bolton Center was always open and often full with friends from around the world. And so Bob Kenney will long be remembered as a highly respected and greatly admired member of this international equine reproduction community. Sue McDonnell ∗ University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center, Kennett Square, PA 19348, United States ∗ Tel.:
+1 610 220 4203; fax: +1 610 925 6804. E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 15 May 2010
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Animal Reproduction Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/anireprosci
Obituary
Professor Robert M. Kenney
Professor Robert M. Kenney died in May 2008 at the age of 83. A veterinarian with advanced training in surgery and pathology, Bob Kenney devoted his career to clinical service, research, and teaching veterinary and graduate students. He made several pioneering advances in clinical equine reproduction. In his 1963 doctoral dissertation, he introduced the concept, established the scientific basis, and developed the methodology for interpretation of the uterine biopsy in the mare. He also introduced methods for the systematic evaluation of fertility in stallions and mares and invented the skim milk-glucose diluent for stallion semen, known as the Kenney extender. Bob also studied anti-sperm antibodies as a cause of infertility in stallions. Bob Kenney grew up in Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. Straight from high school he entered the United 0378-4320/$ – see front matter doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2010.04.103
States Navy where he served in the Pacific theatre during World War II as a medical corpsman assisting pathologists with the recovery of downed fighter pilots. He returned from the war to attend Rhode Island College and then Brown University, before studying veterinary medicine at Oklahoma A&M University. After an Internship in surgery at Cornell University, he returned to private veterinary practice in rural Vermont. In 1958, he returned to Cornell for graduate study in veterinary pathology, and after completing his PhD, was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in 1963. After a short time he moved to a similar position at Cornell before moving back again to the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. There he advanced to Full Professor in 1975 and to Emeritus Professor in 1992. Among Professor Kenney’s career honors were the Bartlett Award of the Society for Theriogenology, the Distinguished Educator Award of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and induction into the Equine Reproduction Hall of Fame established by the Gluck Foundation at the University of Kentucky. Bob cherished his association with ISER. He served on the organizing committee for nearly two decades, and as the invited Honorary Chairman of the 1998 Symposium in South Africa. At the Symposia, Bob took advantage of every opportunity to meet and to encourage new contributors to pursue their research ideas and goals. His ongoing mentoring included invitation to visit our group at Penn. His home on the campus of New Bolton Center was always open and often full with friends from around the world. And so Bob Kenney will long be remembered as a highly respected and greatly admired member of this international equine reproduction community. Sue McDonnell ∗ University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center, Kennett Square, PA 19348, United States ∗ Tel.:
+1 610 220 4203; fax: +1 610 925 6804. E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 15 May 2010