“ If yo u l i k e t e ac h i n g , t h e r e ’ s p r o b a b ly n o b e t t e r p l ac e o n c a m p u s t h a n r i g h t h e r e i n t h e v e t e r i n a ry s c h o o l .” — Jim Lish
It’s no wonder. The zoologist exudes a passion for animals and explaining them to students, an opportunity he considers an honor.
“I saw a flier there on the wall for a wildlife biologist,” he says, “and I thought, ‘Wow, I didn’t know they’d pay you to do that.’ ”
“There’s just no downside to teaching, unless you just don’t like to teach,” Lish says. “In which case, you should be pumping gas or something else. It’s not everybody’s forte, that’s for sure. “
Ever since he was a boy, Lish remembers being entranced by the animal life around him, whether it was in his own backyard or in the neighboring yards and creeks that his sisters, who raised him after the death of his mother (his father was a traveling salesman), would let him roam after he got bigger.
Lish has been the instructor of record for the large animal anatomy course since 2000. He also teaches a course in bird biology for veterinarians. And he’s been at the vet school since 1989, when he was hired as a researcher in a lab. Lish came to the veterinary school from zoology, which he joined in 1971. He started teaching comparative anatomy in zoology as a doctoral student in 1980. Today, he considers himself a “displaced wildlife biologist with a zoology degree in the college of veterinary medicine.” Of course, there are a lot of similarities between zoology and veterinary medicine. Still, he says, he’s the last person you would think would become a professor. Never a dedicated student as a kid, Lish went to junior college after high school in Miami, Okla., but he didn’t do well. In 1966, the Army drafted him. He spent a tour in Vietnam and saw action during the Tet Offensive. He was discharged in 1968. He ran a gas station for a while in his hometown. He later quit and went to the unemployment office to find work.
He devoured books on birds and other animals his family bought him. His brother took him hunting and fishing. His dad, who was also a naturalist, took him out frequently, too. He was especially fascinated by birds of prey. Naturally, when he saw the flier, he knew it was the chance of a lifetime, especially with his GI Bill benefits. “I decided, ‘I’m going to go to OSU and become a wildlife biologist,’” Lish says. He returned to the junior college he flunked out of to get his prerequisites and surprised everyone. “I went back to the same instructors and just set the curve in every class. They were astounded it was the same guy.” Lish would later make the dean’s honor roll at OSU. Today, he says he “has the best job in the world and with tenure to boot.” He owns land outside Stillwater that he works with his wife, Lurinda Burge, a vet school virology technologist in Dr. Robert Fulton’s laboratory.
A painter, engraver and avid photographer, Lish puts thousands of miles on his Toyota pickup driving Oklahoma’s back roads in winter, shooting pictures of raptors and other wildlife. His office at McElroy Hall is full of his work. He recently donated many of his works to be sold as a fundraiser for a college student organization, the Zoo and Exotic Wildlife Club, and for a wildlife conservation organization in India. He also spends a week in October each year helping trap migrating golden eagles with his colleagues in Montana. He uses his personal trials as a student to help his students. “I tell them it’s really just a matter of motivation. I can understand if they’re doing poorly. There may be a lot of reasons for that. I know because I’ve been there. But you can sure turn it around. I’m a living example. I’m the least likely person you would think would ever end up in academia, quite frankly,” he says with a laugh. Lish’s other accolades include the Regents’ Distinguished teaching award. “If you like teaching, there’s probably no better place on campus than right here in the veterinary school.” MATT ELLIOTT
2013 Oklahoma State University
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