Dr. James W. Dollahite, number 07

Abstract

Dr. James W. (Dolly) Dollahite was born on May 1, 1911, and grew up in West-Central Texas near Johnson City, TX. He received his D.V.M. degree from The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1933. He worked for the U.S. Government and practiced until World War II. He served as a U.S. Army Veterinarian during the war and later retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Following the war, he went back into veterinary practice in Marfa, TX but developed an interest in toxicology. Dr. Dollahite combined his practice and a part-time position with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station's Alpine Station to further his interests in plant toxicology. He also held a research position with the USDA at Beltsville, MD.

In 1956, he started a full-time TAES position and was responsible for moving the Alpine Research Station to become the Marfa Toxic Plant Research Station, during which time he drove many miles over West Texas and Southern New Mexico investigating toxic plant problems and developing his toxic plant research. He closed the Marfa Station and moved his research endeavors to College Station in 1958, where he was in the then Veterinary Research Section of the College of Veterinary Medicine. He received his M.S. Degree in Veterinary Physiology (there was no formal Toxicology Program at the time) in 1961.

J.W. became an Associate Professor of Pathology in 1962 and Professor in 1965. He transferred to the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology in 1968 where he was instrumental in establishing the Ph.D. program in Toxicology in 1969. Dr. Dollahite was a Charter and Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology (1966-7). J.W. continued his research on toxic plants until his retirement from Texas A & M in 1975. He carried on his toxic plant research with the USDA ARS Veterinary Toxicology and Entomology Research Laboratory, College Station, TX, until his full retirement in 1980. J.W. died July 26, 1984.

Dr. J.W. Dollahite played a very important role in the development of veterinary toxicology research in Texas, especially toxic plant research, and the development of Veterinary Toxicology as a Specialty under the American Veterinary Medical Association. Dr Dollahite's greatest attribute was his power of observation of clinical signs in diseased animals. He had over 70 research publications.

[This tribute to James Dollahite was contributed by E. Murl Bailey, Jr., Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas.]