{"id":2818,"date":"2009-12-09T04:44:56","date_gmt":"2009-12-08T21:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/?p=2818"},"modified":"2018-05-22T11:01:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T17:01:41","slug":"dr-dee-ellis-selected-to-take-reins-of-texas-animal-health-commission-tahc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/industry\/dr-dee-ellis-selected-to-take-reins-of-texas-animal-health-commission-tahc\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Dee Ellis Selected to Take Reins of Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas Animal Health Commission
\nBox l2966 * Austin, Texas 78711 * (800) 550-8242 * FAX (512) 719-0719
\nBob Hillman, DVM * Executive Directorceverett@tahc.state.tx.us<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Veterinarian Dee Ellis of Rockdale has been named as Texas\u2019 new state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state\u2019s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Dr. Ellis will replace Dr. Bob Hillman, who will retire December 31 after serving in livestock and poultry health leadership capacities for more than three decades and as Texas\u2019 state veterinarian nearly seven years.\u00a0 The 13 governor-appointed TAHC commissioners, representing the public, livestock and poultry industries, announced the selection of Dr. Ellis at the TAHC commission meeting in Austin Tuesday, December 8.
\n\u201cI am confident that Dr. Dee Ellis will be a fine state veterinarian and TAHC executive director.\u00a0 For five years, Dr. Ellis has served as the TAHC assistant state veterinarian, and his work ethic, abilities, training and qualifications are exemplary,\u201d said TAHC Chairman Ernie Morales of Devine, who also represents the feedlot industry on the 13-member commission.
\n\u201cI am proud to have served as a commissioner during Dr. Bob Hillman\u2019s service at the TAHC and wish him the best in his retirement.\u00a0 In preparing for his succession, Dr. Hillman mentored and prepared staff for leadership, and Dr. Ellis is ready for this new challenge as executive director,\u201d said TAHC Commissioner Coleman H. Locke, beef industry representative and a member of executive search committee.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ellis, originally from Comanche, was raised with a farming and dairy background. While completing his animal science degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Dr. Ellis worked as a TAHC animal health inspector.<\/p>\n

In 1984, Dr. Ellis obtained his doctorate of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University, and practiced as an associate veterinarian in Gonzales.\u00a0 He returned to the TAHC as a field veterinarian in Wharton during some of the toughest battles to eradicate cattle brucellosis.\u00a0 Recognized for his leadership and innovation, Dr. Ellis was promoted in 1986 to area director for Central Texas, a position he held for 18 years.\u00a0 In 2002, Dr. Ellis completed a master\u2019s degree in Public Administration from Texas State University. In 2003, he transferred to the TAHC\u2019s Austin headquarters as the staff veterinarian to oversee the statewide cattle tuberculosis (TB) testing dairies and purebred beef cattle, and a year later was named assistant state veterinarian<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Ellis has invaluable field experience fighting foreign animal diseases.\u00a0 He was detailed to Great Britain during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, helped eradicate exotic Newcastle disease in California and Texas in 2003, and worked on the Texas avian influenza outbreak in 2004. He is a foreign animal disease diagnostician, and has broad experience in emergency management and epidemiology,\u201d said Chairman Morales.\u00a0 \u201cDr. Ellis is nationally recognized among regulatory veterinarians and policy makers, has worked closely with Mexican animal health officials on cattle disease issues, and has been sought after as a speaker for livestock industry meetings.\u00a0 He can quickly \u2018digest\u2019 a problem and seek solutions with working groups, an attribute that we have come to appreciate and expect from the TAHC\u2019s excellent leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TAHC\u2019s role has expanded in recent years to include not only disease, but also disasters.\u00a0 Dr. Ellis and the TAHC staff have gained invaluable experience in handling animal issues during Hurricanes Rita and Ike, wildfires in the Panhandle and floods in East Texas.\u00a0 Under his leadership, the TAHC will be ready to work closely with the livestock and poultry industries to address dire situations, whether it is a disease outbreak, manmade or natural calamity,\u201d said Mr. Locke.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ellis resides in Rockdale, near Austin, where he has been involved in civic groups and youth sports activities.\u00a0 He and his wife Cheryln, math and science curriculum specialist for the Rockdale Junior High and High schools, are the parents of Toni and Chris, a senior and a sophomore, respectively, at the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University in College Station.<\/p>\n

–30–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Animal Health Commission Box l2966 * Austin, Texas 78711 * (800) 550-8242 * FAX (512) 719-0719 Bob Hillman, DVM * Executive Directorceverett@tahc.state.tx.us Veterinarian Dee Ellis of Rockdale has been named as Texas\u2019 new state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state\u2019s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2818"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7726,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818\/revisions\/7726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ebarrelracing.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}