J.G. O’Donoghue Memorial Lecture

This lecture is named in honor of Dr. J. G. (Jim) O’Donoghue, a man involved with the expansion of the provincial government’s veterinary services and infrastructure in Alberta.  O’Donoghue worked for the Government of Alberta in a variety of roles from 1948 to 1965.  He lectured to agriculture students and pharmacy students at the University of Alberta in areas related to animal health, including the use of production animal medications.  In 1972 O’Donoghue was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister and then Deputy Minister in 1975.  He served in that capacity until he passed away in 1981.  During his career, he was involved with the expansion of the provincial government’s veterinary services and infrastructure in Alberta.   The current Alberta Agriculture building on 114th street and Belgravia Road is named in his honour.  

The J.G. O’Donoghue Memorial Lecture Fund was endowed by family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. O’Donoghue. 

The J.G. O’Donoghue Memorial Lectures are delivered every two to three years by outstanding veterinarians or scientists to University of Alberta students primarily in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, and in Saskatoon to veterinary students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. 

Animal Science research spans a number of  disciplines including animal nutrition and metabolism, sustainable management, physiology, molecular genetics, genomics, reproductive efficiency and prenatal development, ethology, and carcass and meat quality.  Research programs address issues of importance to the beef, dairy, swine, and poultry industries such as food safety, food quality, production efficiency and sustainability, and environmental health.  

Visit the Animal Science webpage for information.