First veterinarian astronaut

Dr. Martin Fettman was the first veterinarian to paticipate in an outer space mission onboard the space shuttle Columbia. He studied what happened to people and animals while they are in space with zero gravity. This research helped the improve the health and safety of other astronauts on later space missions.

First female veterinary surgeon

Aleen Cust, the first female veterinary surgeon, graduated with honors from the New Veterinary College of Edinburgh in 1897. She had to fight opposition to her role, however. The legal advisor for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) insisted that they could not recognize her because only “persons” were eligible and therefore women did not “qualify”!
The British parliament passed a law in 1919 which required the veterinary profession (among others, including medicine) to allow the registration of women. Dr. Cust was one of the first persons to take the RCVS exam after the law was passed.

Nobel prize winning veterinarian

In 1996, Dr. Peter Doherty, a veterinary researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, was awarded a Nobel Prize for his discovery about how the body’s immune system protects us from infections.  This discovery led to further research in the prevention and treatment of infections in both animals and people.