The American Association of Swine Veterinarians has announced College of Veterinary Medicine PhD candidate Dr. Amanda Sponheim as its 2025 Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award.

This award recognizes swine industry veterinarians who have demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to their companies and their clients, as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry. Sponheim received the award on March 3 during the association’s 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. 

“I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award that is reflective of the people who have invested in me throughout my career. I am grateful for the opportunity to support the collaborative, progressive, science-driven veterinarians and pork producers we work with,” she says. 

Sponheim is currently pursuing a PhD through CVM’s Veterinary Sciences graduate program and is advised by Dr. Maria Pieters, an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. Her research focuses on diagnostic approaches for the detection of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in low and high prevalence scenarios. 

As a senior key account veterinarian in the swine division at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., Sponheim provides technical support to strategic U.S. swine accounts, oversees field trials, investigates disease outbreaks, presents technical information to veterinary audiences, and manages veterinary student interns. A servant leader and tremendous resource for students, she has mentored more than 20 veterinary students during swine internships.

Sponheim has been an AASV member since joining as a veterinary student. She has served on the AASV Student Recruitment Committee and as the committee’s National Pork Industry Foundation’s internship chair. She has also assisted the organization as a member of the Hogg Scholarship Committee after receiving the scholarship in 2018.

More AASV coverage: CVM graduate and DVM students receive awards at 2025 AASV Annual Meeting