On November 4, the College of Veterinary Medicine will host the Dr. Edith Elisabeth Flynn Investiture, bestowing a professorship on Dr. Anne M. Barger. A named faculty appointment signifies excellence and prominence in the areas of research, teaching, or service.
Our Donor: Dr. Edith Elisabeth Flynn
Dr. Flynn is professor emerita of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her influential career combines scholarly research with practical engagement in the areas of corrections and criminal justice administration at the state, national, and international levels. She is known for her extensive publications and expert testimony on these topics as well as on terrorism, counter-terrorism, and political crime.
Dr. Flynn’s many contributions to her field include founding the National Clearinghouse for Criminal Justice Planning and Architecture and holding leadership positions in the American Society of Criminology. She has served as U.S. Delegate to the United Nations and consulted with the U.S. Justice Department. During her 25 years at Northeastern University, Dr. Flynn received many awards for teaching excellence in both graduate and undergraduate programs.
Dr. Flynn and her late husband Winston Flynn always remembered their years at the University of Illinois fondly. They arrived in Urbana-Champaign in 1965. Dr. Flynn came to Illinois to study under Professor Daniel Glaser, a noted sociologist in the field of criminology. Her husband completed a college degree after wrapping up a distinguished military career of more than two decades.
During her eight years at Illinois, Dr. Flynn excelled in the classroom. She earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in sociology as well as recognition with a Bronze Tablet award, University Honors, and a Phi Beta Kappa key. Even decades after relocating to the Boston area, the couple remembered their time at the University of Illinois with gratitude. Not only did they gain a world-class education then, but also their beloved Gypsie, a black cocker spaniel, received outstanding medical care at the university’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Dr. Anne M. Barger
Inaugural Dr. Edith Elisabeth Flynn Professor
As a leader in the field of veterinary clinical pathology, Dr. Anne Barger has championed advances not only in veterinary knowledge, education, and practice but also in workplace culture within the profession. These goals infused her time as president of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and her role as professor and department head at the University of Illinois.
Dr. Barger’s scholarly interests include cytology, immunohistochemistry, and osteosarcoma. She pioneered the use of what has become the gold standard for non-invasive diagnosis of skeletal osteosarcoma in dogs. This technique—called alkaline phosphatase cytochemical staining—was developed at the University of Illinois for use in animals and has dramatically reduced the need for invasive bone biopsies, which increase the risk of limb fracture or dysfunction.
Dr. Barger has published more than 65 peer-reviewed articles, written or co-written 18 chapters in textbooks, and co-edited two textbooks, both with Dr. Amy MacNeill: Small Animal Cytologic Diagnosis and Clinical Pathology for Veterinary Technicians. Second editions of both texts were issued in 2024. Dr. Barger has also served on the editorial board of Veterinary Clinical Pathology for the past 16 years.
Her expertise and enthusiasm make her a popular lecturer, both in the veterinary classroom and at regional, national, and international meetings. Illinois veterinary students have selected her more than a dozen times to give the faculty address at graduation. In her 22 years at the college, she has been honored with teaching awards 16 times. Additionally, she received the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology Educator Award for her mentorship of interns and residents in 2017 and won the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching in 2023.
Dr. Barger earned bachelor’s, master’s, and veterinary degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. After completing a clinical pathology residency at North Carolina State University, she worked at Antech Diagnostics in Chicago briefly before joining the faculty of the Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. In 2022 Dr. Barger was appointed head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine. In that role she has fostered an inclusive and supportive environment and successfully recruited more than two dozen new faculty members.
