Alvin F. Weber, DVM, MS, PhD, St. Paul, Minn., died December 29, 2019, at 101. Weber joined the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) faculty in 1949 and helped found the college in its infancy. He was a research and teaching faculty member for more than 60 years.

Weber liked being referred to as a cytogeneticist.  He performed research on bovine leukemia and other diseases with cellular abnormalities. Weber also taught pre-clinical courses in gross anatomy, histology, and embryology, and was a favorite instructor of students for his knowledge and humor. 

Throughout Weber’s illustrious career, he served his community and farmers all over the world, as well as thousands of veterinary students at the CVM who remember him fondly. His research interests included cytology, ultrastructure, and cytogenetics as related to the reproductive and hematopoietic systems. His work was peer-reviewed and published more than 60 times. On his 95th birthday, he came to the University to complete a manuscript to be submitted for publication—a remarkable event for most people, but commonplace for Weber. 

Finer than a frog’s hair

Photo by Amanda Stombaugh

Many alumni remember him not only for his many professional achievements, but for his cheery presence and his evergreen reply to, “How are you?” which was always, “Finer than a frog’s hair!”

A Midwesterner through and through, Weber was born in Hartford, Wis., on March 13, 1918. He completed his bachelor of arts (1941), Master of Science (1946), and PhD (1949) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He received his DVM from Iowa State University in Ames in 1944. Weber and his colleagues were among the first in the US to use antibiotics to treat bovine mastitis. 

Weber was an instructor at the University of Wisconsin until moving to the University of Minnesota to take an assistant professor of anatomy position. He later rose to become a professor and the head of the Department of Anatomy at the CVM. He continued teaching veterinary students into his 80’s and conducting his research into his 90’s. 

A committed career

In the 1960s, Weber used an electron microscope to search for virus particles in the white blood cells of a cow suspected of having enzootic bovine leukosis—better known as bovine leukemia—which killed thousands of cattle every year in the US. Purchased with a US Public Health Service grant in 1960, the microscope was the first electron microscope in a US veterinary college.

As CVM faculty, Weber had experiences in continued learning all over the world and brought that knowledge back to Minnesota. In 1988, Weber was named professor emeritus in the Department of Veterinary Biology. Once retired, he continued to conduct part-time diagnostic research at the CVM. 

Weber dedicated much time to various boards, organizations, and associations. He served as president of the American Association of Veterinary Anatomists in 1957, national president of Phi Zeta (1959-1961); secretary-treasurer (1960-65), vice president (1986-88), and president (1987-88) of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Disease; secretary (1971-75) and president (1975-79) of the World Association of Veterinary Anatomists; and program chairman of the World Veterinary Congress through the World Association of Veterinary Anatomists in 1979. 

Weber served on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fellowship Review Committee for Anatomy and Pathology, International Committee on Veterinary Anatomical Nomenclature, International Anatomical Nomenclature Committee, and the Committee on Anatomical Nomenclature within the American Association of Anatomists. He was chairman of the Minnesota Zoological Society when the organization was planning for its location and content of the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, MN. He belonged to the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Disease, American Veterinary Medical Association, Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, and American Association of Anatomists.

Due to the high caliber of his research, Weber was a special research fellow for NIH from 1959–1960 and again from 1971–1972. He attained a World Health Organization Travel Fellowship for Leukemia Studies in 1974. In 1989, he received the Achievement Award from the American Association of Veterinary Anatomists. 

Giving back

Weber established the Al Weber DVM/PhD Fellowship Fund and the Alvin F. and Eleanor E. Weber Scholarship Fund. The Alvin and Eleanor Weber Scholarship is awarded each year to new veterinary students from rural Minnesota. Through the years, many of these students have returned home after graduation with the ability to improve the health of the animals in their community. More than 20 students have benefited from this scholarship since it was established in 1998. 

The Al Weber DVM/PhD Fellowship Fund has provided support for roughly 15 DVM/PhD students seeking careers in veterinary research since its inception in 1994. 

Weber is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth; son Thomas (Yoko); and friend Hazel. He is preceded in death by his son William and wife, Eleanor.