Dr. Mack Allen Emmerson, 93, a retired Iowa State professor of veterinary obstetrics and radiology, died Saturday, 12 hours after suffering a heart attack.

Emmerson worked for ISU from 1944-1973 and served as department head for obstetrics and radiology.

He was born in Weston, Iowa, on May 15, 1903 to Trumbull and Harriet Emmerson.

Lawrence Evans, a professor of veterinary clinical sciences, was one of Emmerson’s radiology students.

“He was one of the landmarks at the time in the veterinary school,” Evans said. “We knew that he had a wealth of information and it was up to us to get some of that from him.”

In 1966, he was chosen “Professor of the Year” by students in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Phillip Pearson, retired dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said he knew Emmerson since about 1948, both as an instructor and a colleague.

“He took two subjects and made them come to life,” Pearson said.

He said Emmerson had a lot of fun teaching and enjoyed people. “He made class fun,” Pearson said.

Emmerson earned his DVM from Iowa State College in 1925 and his Master of Science in 1928. He also studied at the University of Zurich in Switzerland from 1929-1930, where he earned another “Doctor of Veterinary Medicine” degree.

Emmerson was the first veterinarian in North America to receive specialty training in veterinary radiology. He established the first department of veterinary radiology at a veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was also one of the first people in the country to use X-rays to treat animals. He performed one of the first organ transplants on an animal in 1947 when he grafted the pituitary gland from a bull into the base of the brain of a sterile prize bull. Unfortunately, the graft did not take.

Emmerson authored more than 30 scientific publications in obstetrics and radiology and holds patents on several instruments for veterinary obstetrics, including an artificial cow’s womb for use in teaching birthing techniques.

His son, James Thomas Emmerson, professor of journalism and mass communication, said his father “had a full, rich life.”

“He really, really cared about learning,” Emmerson said. He said his father was a great storyteller.

“He was president of the athletic council when I was editor of the Daily,” Emmerson said. “That was the time that he told me — that Iowa State cheated less than anyone else in the conference.”

Emmerson also remembered when his father drove him and his brother to Wrigley’s Field in Chicago for a double-header and then drove them home the same day, which he said was “astonishing” in 1950. The Cubs won both games.

Emmerson also said his father was very social and was always going out to the Grove Cafe or to Hy-Vee to visit with people.

In addition to Tom Emmerson, Mack Emmerson is survived by one other son, Ralph, a civil engineer in Des Moines. He is also survived by seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Esther McCracken Emmerson, and his daughter, Nancy Caroline, who died at age 6 of bulbar polio.

Memorial services will be held next Monday at 1 p.m. at the Collegiate United Methodist Church. Contributions should be sent to Green Hills Sensory Garden Fund in Ames.

Emmerson was cremated and will be buried at Story Memorial Gardens in Ames.