Following decades of giving back, Dr. Craig Nishimoto (‘84 DVM) was awarded the Washington State University Alumni Association’s highest honor – the Alumni Achievement Award. Nishimoto was recognized at a presentation Oct. 9 inside Bustad Hall’s Mickelsen Longue.
Since the award was created in 1970, it has only been presented to 511 alumni.
Nishimoto was nominated for the award by Alofa Mo Meaola from Love for Animals, a grassroots nonprofit alternative humane society dedicated to the welfare of animals in American Samoa.
In his first of several volunteer veterinary trips to the island, Nishimoto and his family provided a low-cost four-day spay and neuter clinic for animals that had gone without any veterinary care for two years due to a devastating 2009 tsunami.
The family spayed or neutered 80 animals, examined another 16 patients, and performed two amputations. Nishimoto also helped two families receive health certifications so their pets could enter the U.S. mainland.
Back at his home in Kauai, Hawaii’s fourth-largest island, Nishimoto runs Paradise Veterinary Clinic. The high-volume veterinary clinic is the only veterinary practice on the western half of Kauai.
In addition to his work in American Samoa, Nishimoto is an active member of his Rotary Club, which started a school in Cambodia’s Pursat province. The school provides children extra education and nourishment after their regular schooling.