Above: A rendering of the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine in Cabot
Lyon College has received an $11 million donation from the Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation to establish a new shelter medicine and animal welfare program, the college announced Monday.
The Katharine Reese Shelter Medicine and Animal Welfare Program will be based at the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine in Cabot. The program will serve as a center for shelter medicine education, research, and outreach, and aims to improve community health and animal welfare across Arkansas.
“This extraordinary gift creates a ripple effect that will touch every part of the state,” said Dr. Melissa P. Taverner, president of Lyon College. “We are proud to honor Katharine Reese’s legacy through a program that will transform the way veterinary medicine serves shelter animals and communities.”
The program is named for the late Katharine Reese, co-founder of the Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation (AARF), and will include:
– $5 million for an endowed professorship in shelter medicine and animal welfare;
– $2 million for additional faculty positions and academic support;
– $2 million to fund scholarships for veterinary students;
– $1 million to build classrooms, laboratories and shelter facilities; and
– $1 million for a mobile veterinary unit.
Lyon College’s veterinary campus is co-located with Cabot Animal Support Services. The new program builds on the American Veterinary Medical Association’s recognition of shelter medicine as a vital specialty within the field.
“We are enormously grateful to the AARF for this remarkable gift,” said Dr. Eleanor Green, founding dean of the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine. “This will be a hub for teaching, outreach and research, directly impacting animal welfare and veterinary best practices across Arkansas.”
The donation will also establish a fiduciary trust to support ongoing shelter grants, spay/neuter programs and rescue initiatives.
“Kathy Reese’s lifelong passion for animals and nature lives on through this program,” said Gail Arnold, chair of the AARF Board of Trustees. “Her dream was to make Arkansas a better place for animals—and through this collaboration with Lyon College, we are fulfilling that dream in a very effective and sustainable way.”
Reese, who moved to Arkansas in the 1990s, co-founded AARF with her brother, William Reese, in 2006. She created an animal sanctuary on her 1,000-acre property in Pope County and focused her efforts on improving conditions for vulnerable domestic animals.
“This is a defining moment for Lyon College and for veterinary education in Arkansas,” said Dr. David Hutchison, the college’s vice president for advancement. “Thanks to AARF’s extraordinary generosity, we can create a model of shelter medicine education that is collaborative, community-centered and deeply impactful.”
Pending accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine is expected to open in 2026, with the shelter medicine program launching soon after.
The gift was announced at CARE for Animals in Little Rock, a nonprofit rescue group that has received past support from AARF and represents the type of community organization the new program aims to serve.
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