Associate Professor Dr. Julie Cary is the recipient of one of Washington State University’s highest leadership honors — the 2024 Pullman Chancellor’s Distinguished Leader Award.
The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership and service to the WSU Pullman campus and surrounding community, as well as those who support leadership development in WSU Pullman students. By earning the award, Cary is eligible for next year’s esteemed Chancellor’s Award and President’s Award.
“Training veterinarians who make the world a better place is the best job imaginable,” Cary said. “Being nominated by colleagues whom I admire and respect for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Leader Award for Leadership was a surprise and a tremendous honor. I am grateful for their efforts and for this meaningful recognition.”
The Chancellor’s Awards were created this year to honor students, faculty, staff, and community organizations for their efforts in leadership and leadership development. Since 1996, the President’s Award for Leadership is an honor bestowed annually to students and others representing the top leaders throughout the WSU system.
For nearly two decades, Cary has served as the director of the Simulation-Based Education program, overseeing the Clinical Simulation Center at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
In addition to being a board-certified large animal surgeon with experience in private practice and academia, she is a certified Healthcare Simulation Educator.
Her current work as an educator prioritizes the cultivation of clinical and interpersonal skills to benefit veterinarians, patients, clients, and the veterinary medical profession. In 2019, under Cary’s leadership, WSU’s Simulation-Based Education received accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, marking the first time this designation was granted a veterinary-specific program.
Cary’s passion is to equip learners and professionals with the skills necessary to thrive in their lives and careers and to share with educators new processes to achieve those outcomes.
“Dr. Cary runs the Clinical Simulation Center because she cares deeply about the education and careers of her students. She identified an area of weakness in our curriculum and took responsibility to solve it. As a student, I get to experience that and will be forever grateful for the long-term effects the center will have on my career,” said second-year veterinary student Jonah Wisen, one of the students who nominated Cary for the award. “What has been even more impactful on me is the trust Dr. Cary has in me. She has a way of uplifting those around her to achieve what they do not think is possible.”