Obituary – Gila Zur

Abstract

In June 2017 our colleague on the editorial board, Gila Zur, passed away. Gila was appointed to the board several years ago to represent her part of the world and to review papers for the journal as well as publishing articles. The following is from colleagues in Israel and the US. Gila Zur was born in 1958 in Israel. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, and her Masters of Science degree in Animal Sciences at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1989 she graduated from the newly established Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Subsequently she acted as staff clinician at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, handling clinical dermatology cases and teaching students at all levels. In addition she served on various committees of the school, including the Ethics and Teaching committees. She spent 1998-1999 as a post-doctoral fellow with the dermatology service at the U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in California. In 2006 she was awarded the Lecturer degree. In 2009 she was board-certified as a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Dermatology (DipECVD). During her prolific career which tragically ended prematurely due to cancer, she completed a number of workshops and participated in several congresses focused on veterinary dermatology. She published more than 20 articles in peer reviewed journals, including Veterinary Dermatology. Her dedication is best characterized by the letter her student wrote to her family following her passing away: Her teaching was characterized by efforts to convey the most up to date material in the clearest way. We hope that we have absorbed at least some of her wide knowledge and her attitude towards animals. She will be remembered as one of the cornerstones of veterinary medicine in Israel. She passed away in June 2017 after a long period of sickness which she bore with exemplary courage. She left behind a husband, four children and many grieving colleagues and students. She is sorely missed. Daniel Elad, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Gila studied at UC Davis, USA with Stephen White and colleagues and they wrote: Gila spent a year with us at UC Davis, 1998-1999. We recall her as a genuine individual with a keen intellect and a kind heart. She was always quick with a warm supportive hug when you saw her at a meeting and we also recall her as a devoted mother and wife. We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Gila on several publications, and we all admired her perseverance in her successful pursuit of ECVD board certification. She will be missed. Stephen D. White, Catherine A. Outerbridge, Candace A. Sousa On behalf of the editorial board we offer our sympathy and condolences to Gila's family.