Ray Long (00:01):
It is the 18th of July, 2005. I am Doctor J.R. Ray Long, OVC '62. The taping of this self-interview is at my home in Truro, Nova Scotia. I was born in 1934 in Albert County, New Brunswick where my parents had a small mixed farm. There are four boys in the family, of which I am the oldest. We moved to Sussex, New Brunswick in the fall of 1945. I graduated from high school there in 1953 and worked in the Canadian Tire store in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for two years. Entered the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in 1955 and went on to OVC in 1957.
Ray Long (00:57):
My father was an outstanding livestock man and Dr. Stewart Magblood, who had practiced in Sussex during the years I was in high school, encouraged me to consider a career in veterinary medicine. I enjoyed OVC. We had classmates from all the Providences of Canada, from the Caribbean, from various countries in Europe and Africa. For me, doctors Doug Blood, Jim Henderson and Tom Howerin were the outstanding teachers during the DVM Program.
Ray Long (01:37):
Following graduation in 1962, I practiced for two years in a mixed practice in Kensington PEI with Dr. Morris Clark, OVC '52, and Dr. Ben Reel, OVC '60. In 1963, I married Jean Augden from Amherst, Nova Scotia. In 1964, I did an MSC degree in animal nutrition at Cornell University. In 1966, we returned to Guelph, where I was a faculty member in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology and did my PhD part-time during those years under Dr. Don Burhnam, OVC '41.
Ray Long (02:33):
In 1975, we moved to Truro, Nova Scotia, where I had accept a position in the Provincial Diagnostic Laboratory known as the Hancock Veterinary Building. It was named after Dr. Errol Hancock OVC '24. Dr. Hancock continues to live in Truro and is now a 103 years of age and enjoys very good health. I became provincial veterinarian in 1981 on the retirement of Dr. A. Ross Main OVC '49.
Ray Long (03:13):
In 1986, I accepted a faculty position at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown in the department of pathology and microbiology and was department chairman from 1988 to 1994. I retired from AVC in 1995 but worked in Dean's office part time for one year. Then, we returned to Pearl in 1996. AVC was a wonderful experience, it was so rewarding to be on the ground floor as the colleagues developed and expanded in the areas of teaching, research, graduate studies, and diagnostic services.
Ray Long (04:06):
We have two adult children. Our daughter, her husband and two children live in Virginia and our son lives in Pearl. My hobbies are volunteering, woodworking, golf, gardening, reading, and learning to play the clarinet. Jean's passions are quilting, golf and reading.