Dr. Brian Aldridge will return to the College of Veterinary Medicine this fall with a clear focus: helping students grow into better thinkers and problem solvers. He hopes to prepare students for the challenges they’ll face in their careers by equipping them with hands-on experience.
Dr. Aldridge, who co-created the Master of Veterinary Science (MVS) and the Certificate in Veterinary Science (CVS) programs alongside Dr. Jim Lowe, sees education as more than just learning facts. “It’s not about memorizing and regurgitating,” he said. “We want to teach students how to think critically—how to approach complex problems and figure them out.”
Raised on a large farm in the south of England, his interest in veterinary medicine started young. He was fascinated by veterinarians and their understanding of animals. “There was something beautiful to me about the art of the sciences—of solving an animal’s problem and fixing it and helping the family along with that,” he explained.
After completing veterinary school in the UK, he worked at LSU and CSU in the U.S., where his passion for clinical reasoning and problem-solving deepened. It was working with great thinkers and teachers in these clinical academic institutions that he first discovered his interest in education through teaching and mentoring students.
His career and continued education have taken him around the world, where he’s worked with different types of animals and communities. This exposure has helped build a global perspective that has further inspired his teaching and understanding of the need for accredited programs like the MVS and CVS. Since joining Illinois, Dr. Aldridge has focused much of his energy on making veterinary education more accessible and applicable.
But for Dr. Aldridge, it’s not just about program design. It’s about helping students open doors and see career opportunities that they didn’t know existed. “Sometimes students are stuck thinking, ‘I’m not smart enough’ or ‘I don’t belong here, ’” he said. “But once they learn to think like a problem-solver, they start realizing they can do it. That’s when doors start to open.”
But for Dr. Aldridge, it’s not just about program design. It’s about helping students open doors and see career opportunities that they didn’t know existed. “Sometimes students are stuck thinking, ‘I’m not smart enough’ or ‘I don’t belong here, ’” he said. “But once they learn to think like a problem-solver, they start realizing they can do it. That’s when doors start to open.”
Working closely with Dr. Lowe, Aldridge helped launch the free online course Sustainable Livestock Production, which reached thousands of learners worldwide. The course became a steppingstone to the more in-depth MVS and CVS offerings—and a way to show what’s possible when education is made practical and relevant.
His experience in academia and designing curriculum for other veterinary and medical programs across the world has helped refine the MVS and CVS programs to change students for the better.
Now back on campus, Dr. Aldridge is excited to continue pushing the boundaries of what veterinary education can look like. He certainly plans to continue teaching, knowing it’s the best way to understand students and their needs.
He encourages students to be curious, ask questions, and engage with material in a way that goes beyond the classroom. “It’s about more than just getting the right answer,” he said. “It’s about learning how to think. And once you can do that, the sky’s the limit.”
By Sarah Reed