Our Story

In 1992, Pew Charitable Trusts provided seed funding to support the development of focused Centers of Excellence in different areas of veterinary medicine at several Colleges of Veterinary Medicine across the United States. With this funding, the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine (CPCVM) was established within the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM), and remains the only funded recipient still in operation.

The stated mission of the CPCVM is to educate, train and support veterinary students and graduate veterinarians to serve as outstanding scientists and leaders in the public and corporate sectors; to perform research to support best practices in veterinary teaching, training, and advising for career development in the public and corporate sectors; and to provide thought leadership and guidance for meeting the critical unmet needs of the veterinary workforce today and in the future.

After 30 years of operation, graduates of the Public and Corporate academic track now hold or have held distinguished positions in federal, state, and local government agencies; research and academic institutions; multinational corporations; staff of the U.S. Congress; and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. 

Guided by an advisory board of veterinarians who represent a broad range of agencies, organizations and industries, the Center plays a vital role in administering the Public and Corporate academic track in the college's DVM program, preparing students for careers in this diverse sector of veterinary medicine. We also serve as a trusted resource center for veterinarians who wish to make a career redirection.

The Center is headquartered at Virginia Tech’s historic campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, and maintains a Washington D.C. presence with faculty also located at the University of Maryland's College Park campus.