The University of Minnesota (UMN) College of Veterinary Medicine (CMV) is proud to present the 2025 Distinguished Research Alum Award to Joe Bartges, a national leader in internal medicine and nutrition whose research continues to advance clinical care and inspire future scientists.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award and to be nominated by Drs. Brown, Lulich, Furrow, and Churchill, who are leaders and outstanding researchers. The University of Minnesota is near and dear to me as I grew professionally and personally during my time there,” Bartges says.

Currently the Bulldog Veterinary Medicine Professor at the University of Georgia, Bartges is board-certified in both internal medicine and nutrition, with faculty appointments in Internal Medicine, Interventional Radiology, and Nutrition. He earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1993 after completing an internship and residency in what is now the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. Under the mentorship of the late Professors Carl Osborne and David Polzin, Bartges launched a research career focused on the influence of diet on canine urinary composition—work that laid a strong foundation for the decades of excellence that followed.

“I learned from Drs. Osborne and Polzin, and many others at U of M, how to question, to think outside of the box, to keep an open mind, and to be inquisitive,” Bartges says.

Since then, Bartges has become one of the most prolific scholars in small animal internal medicine, authoring more than 125 refereed journal articles, 50+ review papers, more than 100 book chapters, and eight edited volumes. He is also co-author of the definitive textbook “Nephrology and Urology of Small Animals,” an enduring reference in the field. Over the course of his academic career, he has mentored dozens of graduate students, residents, and veterinary trainees, and has secured more than $10 million in research support from grants, contracts, and gifts.

His influence reaches beyond research. A founder and past president of the American College of Veterinary Nephrology and Urology, Bartges has also held multiple endowed chairs and received numerous awards for excellence in teaching, service, and clinical care at the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee. Even three decades after leaving Minnesota, he continues to support the CVM community through promotion reviews and professional mentorship.

Bartges was nominated by current CVM faculty members David Brown, Eva Furrow, Julie Churchill, and Jody Lulich, who wrote,“ Joe is a model of academic success in veterinary foundational and clinical sciences. He is indeed a truly distinguished research alumnus.”

“I appreciate the recognition and recognize that it would not be possible without the help, guidance, mentorship, friendship, and love of so many people,” Bartges says. “To quote Claude Bernard, ‘Art is I, science is we.’” 

Bartges will be recognized at the 2025 RIDE Summit on July 16, where he will also deliver the keynote RIDE Seminar.