Lyon College on Wednesday named Dr. Eleanor Green, former dean of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University, as the founding dean of the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine in Little Rock.
She’s currently a consultant for Arizona-based lobbying firm Animal Policy Group and vice president of Iron Horse Consulting & Iron Horse Farm LLC.
In a news release, Lyon College President Melissa Taverner called Green an “innovative thinker with an impressive array of experiences” in veterinary education, scholarship and policy.
“Her professional connections to a wide variety of fields in the veterinary industry will be critically important as we construct an integrated experience-based curriculum to deliver the foundational training and preparation needed by practitioners in the 21st century,” Taverner said.
The hire brings the private liberal arts college in Batesville closer to launching the first veterinary and dentistry schools in Arkansas as the Lyon College Institute for Health Sciences. The schools will be located in downtown Little Rock at the headquarters of Heifer International, which has agreed to sell the 28-acre site.
The Higher Learning Commission’s Institutional Actions Council in November gave initial approval to Lyon’s request to offer doctorate degrees in both fields. In January, Dr. Burke Soffe was named founding dean of the dentistry school.
Inaugural classes for both schools could begin as early as 2025. Early projections show the schools having an economic impact of $94 million in Little Rock from 2023-2025, and the project has already sparked discussions about new business and real estate developments around the campus.
Another veterinary school is in the works at Arkansas State University, with a preliminary date of fall 2026 for its inaugural class.
Green, who has devoted most of her career to veterinary education and academic administration, said in a statement that the opportunity to shape a new program from scratch is “irresistible.”
“Lyon College is entering veterinary education at a time of profound need, challenge, and opportunity,” she said. “It is an exciting time to contribute to the advancement of veterinary education and healthcare in a world that benefits so much from its animals and the people who care for them.”
Green received a bachelor’s from the University of Florida and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University. Before leading the veterinary school at Texas A&M, she held numerous academic positions, including founding faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University; equine clinician educator and scientist at Middlebush Equine Center at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine; and head of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and hospital director of the Large Animal Hospital at the University of Tennessee.
She’s a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Large Animal Internal Medicine, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP), Certified in Equine Practice.
Currently, she serves on the advisory board of Mars Veterinary Health and on the boards of directors of VetGuardian, Brief Media, PetDesk, Veterinary Innovation Council, and Lead Changes.
Green is also a member of the board of directors for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum.