An expert in animal health and food safety and a preeminent organ transplant researcher was recently chosen by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to receive the 1999 Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the school. Richard Breitmeyer, a state veterinarian and director of Animal Health and Food Safety Services in the California Department of Food and Agriculture, was recognized for outstanding local, national and international contributions to animal health and food safety. Breitmeyer, who earned his DVM (1980) and Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (1990) degrees at UC Davis, has had an outstanding career in California state government. He has served the California Department of Food and Agriculture in several roles since 1984, and is currently departmental liaison for the California Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System. As a nationally and internationally recognized expert in brucellosis eradication in cattle herds, he served as a veterinary epidemiologist on the Brucellosis Eradication Task Force initiated in 1988 to eliminate brucellosis from Chino Valley dairy cattle. California cattle herds are currently free of the disease. Breitmeyer now serves as a consultant to the Mexican cattle industry for eradication of brucellosis. He also was instrumental in developing a Border States Agreement between Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California to assure that cattle entering those states would not be infected with tuberculosis. This approach is recognized as a model for regionalization, an important part of international free-trade agreements. Breitmeyer has achieved national and international recognition for his pioneering achievements in the field of animal-production food safety. He has served as a leader in development of quality-assurance plans for the California egg, poultry meat and dairy industries. These plans serve as models for national quality-assurance initiatives throughout the food-animal industry. Breitmeyer often serves as a consultant and is a frequent lecturer at UC Davis and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Also being honored for his achievements is Donald Cramer (DVM, 1966), a research professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Heart Institute at Children's Hospital, USC School of Medicine in Los Angeles. Cramer was recognized for preeminent research in the immunology of organ transplantation and distinguished contributions to biomedical research. The Alumni Achievement Awards were presented during the recent UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine commencement ceremony.