From the moment she was hired to help create Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Susan J. Hyland focused on the recruitment and retention of the very best students.

For 28 years, she served as the School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In that role, she left a legacy of strong student support. She passionately pursued having a gender-balanced student body where students had a diversity of career goals. She wanted a student body that reflected diverse experiences and cultural backgrounds.

Upon the occasion of her retirement, the School established a student excellence fund in her honor. The goal is to raise $1 million to endow the Dr. Susan J. Hyland Student Excellence Fund in perpetuity.

This fund will be used to attract and support the best and brightest students, reward hard work, encourage diversity, and enhance leadership. In essence, the fund is designed to continue Dr. Hyland’s legacy of strong student support.

“It means so much to the students when we recognize their need,” Dr. Hyland says. “And we know their need is extreme. Over 90 percent of our students are on loans, and they face a huge debt load when they graduate. In 2006, it was $90,000, and the figure keeps going up.”

In addition to helping students, the fund will continue to recognize Dr. Hyland’s long-standing influence on and service to Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine. We are proud to implement this fund in her honor.