Although Iowa State is far from any ocean, its reach is still worldwide, as George Beran, a professor of veterinary medicine, will tell you.

He recently received the International Veterinary Congress Prize at the annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), held in Louisville, Ken.

Beran, who was nominated by Richard Ross, dean of the veterinary medicine college, said he was “very delighted” to have received the honor.

The award is annually given to a veterinarian who has throughout his lifetime contributed to international animal and human health.

Beran, whose main teaching focus is on world food issues, said that “the international aspect of teaching is very important.”

The majority of his students are either international or American students planning to work abroad.

Since 1960 he has worked in at least one country outside the U.S. each year — 26 in all.

In the past year, he traveled to Taiwan and Jamaica. And next week, Beran said he will be leaving for the Ukraine where he will help in developing a lab for food microbiology testing. Throughout the years, he has presented 296 scientific papers at 505 conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

As the greatest accomplishment of his career, Beran is quick to cite his work toward achieving control of rabies in developing countries. “I have so many memories of situations where children were bit by rabid dogs…we treated and vaccinated them…then their families helped join the fight.”

He received $500 and a crystal sculpture by Tiffany & Co. engraved with the AVMA logo, his name and the purpose of the award.

Besides his teaching duties, Beran also directs the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center at ISU, which is involved in risk assessment and hazard intervention in foods of animal origin.

During the 1980s, he led one of three WHO teams in pilot rabies control projects, which eventually led to the development of new WHO guidelines.

Beran lives in Ames with his wife.

“My wife and I are both committed to my work,” he said. His children, who were educated in the Philippines, are “glad they grew up in an international setting.”

The Beran home frequently opens its doors to international students, welcoming them to live there during part of their scholastic careers, as an example of how Beran lives out his theory that “we really need to be completely open and accessible to people everywhere.”

He praised ISU’s “very helpful” attitude toward faculty members’ international work by saying that Iowa State permits staff members to carry on these projects without having to take leave of their university duties.

“ISU is getting more and more into the international sphere,” he said.