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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University's growing College of Veterinary Medicine will soon embark upon a second phase of expansion, due in part to a $5 million pledge from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, a long-time supporter of OSU.

Phase I of the expansion, to be completed this fall, will add a small animal hospital to Magruder Hall, bringing the full veterinary medicine curriculum to Corvallis. Since the college's inception in the mid-1970s, a year and a half of study - including small animal medicine - has been taught at Washington State University's Pullman campus under a contract with WSU.

The $5 million gift from the Valley Foundation will support a second phase of expansion, adding 33,000 square feet to Magruder Hall's large animal hospital at an approximate cost of $10 million.

The addition will include an isolation area for housing animals with communicable diseases, an arena for lameness evaluation, a high speed treadmill, an imaging area, patient stalls, research laboratories, offices, classrooms and storage space. The new facility will also include an intensive care unit designed to accommodate the needs of mares with foals.

"We're delighted by the Valley Foundation's continued interest in supporting priority projects at Oregon State," said OSU President Ed Ray. "Veterinary medicine is central to our mission as a land-grant university. Expanded facilities will allow us to better serve the people of Oregon and the Northwest.

"Oregon State University aspires to be among the top 10 land-grant universities in America," Ray added, "and that cannot be accomplished without a first-rate veterinary medicine program. This support from the Valley Foundation is a significant impetus to achieving that goal."

Dr. Howard Gelberg, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, says the expansion is important for securing a strong future for the college.

"The gift, coupled with other commitments, will allow us to modernize our large animal facilities, which are largely unchanged since Magruder Hall was built," Gelberg said. "The evaluation arena is particularly important, because it will provide indoor diagnostic space with controlled conditions. That's a major enhancement."

Current practice involves evaluating lameness in the parking lot, which is potentially dangerous for the horses and the people around them, and can be difficult during inclement weather. The treadmill will allow staff to evaluate and monitor respiratory and physiological conditions only evident while exercising. Both the arena and the treadmill will assist in equine sports medicine research.

"With a new small animal hospital and renovated and expanded large animal facilities, we will be poised to make great advances," Gelberg said. "When taken together, the expansion means better education for our students, better referral services for regional veterinarians and their clients, and greater capacity for the college's specialists to respond to outbreaks of new and emerging diseases."

According to Gelberg, the college and the veterinary profession are assuming an increasingly important role in safeguarding human health because of their knowledge of diseases passed between animals and people. These diseases include salmonella, E. coli, campylobacter, BSE (mad cow disease), West Nile virus and rabies.

"The additional research space will allow us to concentrate on conditions and issues important to Oregon's animal agriculture industries, including those involved in food safety," Gelberg said.

College officials say they are looking to several public and private sources to raise the additional $5 million to complete the addition. Funds from the Valley Foundation will be released after all of the project's financing has been secured.

The Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, located in Oakland, Calif., was established by the Valley family in 1977. F. Wayne Valley, class of 1937, attended OSU's College of Business. Gladys Valley attended OSU's Business program and was a secretary in the College of Science. She later served as an OSU Foundation Trustee. Their son and grandson attended OSU, continuing the family's connection to the university.

The Valley Foundation has provided significant support to many other areas at OSU, including the Valley Library, the Valley Football Center, the Valley Gymnastics Center, marine biology, the marine mammal research program, the University Theater and the rugby club.