Thomas R. Lenz, DVM, MS, has been named the 2001 vice president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.  The appointment was announced in August during the AAEP Board of Directors meeting in Gleneden Beach, Ore.  He will begin his term following the 2000 AAEP Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas, November 26 – 29.

Lenz is senior director of research and development for Bayer Corporation, Animal Health, in Shawnee, Kan.  He has been affiliated with Bayer since 1989. Dr. Lenz’s involvement in the equine industry includes the Animal Welfare Committee of the American Horse Council, the Research Committee of the American Quarter Horse Association, and the Equine Infectious Disease Committee of the United States Animal Health Association.  He is also a past member of the AAEP Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Public Policy and Abstracts committees, and sits on the AAEP Foundation’s Board of Directors. His professional affiliations include the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association and the Society for Theriogenology.

Lenz writes a monthly horse health column for The Quarter Horse Journal and appears in health segments on ESPN’s “America’s Horse” telecast.  He is a 1975 graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine and received his Master of Science from Texas A&M University.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse.  Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its 6,500 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry