Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, Arnold Rosenwald earned his BS degree at the University of California, Berkeley (1930), his veterinary degree (DVM) at Kansas State University (1936), and post-graduate degrees at Oregon State University (MS) in 1942 and the University of Wisconsin (PhD) in 1956.

 

Following a period working primarily in meat inspection for the USDA, he became Assistant Professor and Assistant Veterinarian in the Agriculture Experiment Station at Oregon State University in 1937. He learned quickly about the poultry industry, the major disease challenges, the essentials of disease investigations, and approaches to problem solving at the flock level. His progress was interrupted by service from 1942-1946 in the US Army. He achieved the rank of Captain in the Veterinary Corps working as a bacteriologist for the War Department’s Special Project Division. In 1946 Rosy was invited to develop the Extension Veterinary Program for poultry at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1951 this position moved to the University of California, Davis, where he remained until retiring in 1977. His Extension career was marked by collaboration with his faculty colleagues, close cooperation with Extension Specialists and county level Farm Advisors, and networking with fellow researchers nationally and internationally. His unique talent was in ferreting out information related to disease control and communicating/extending this knowledge from the laboratory to the field.

 

Among his contributions to avian medicine were: 1) Organization, promotion and maintenance of the Western Poultry Disease Conference 2) Development of the American Association of Avian Pathologists as a charter member, and through service in numerous committees and elective offices (including President 1968-1969 and Editor of Avian Diseases 1961-1965); he received the AAAP Special Service Award in 1980; and 3) Participation in the American Association of Extension Veterinarians and recipient of their Extension Veterinarian of the Year Award in 1975.

 

Rosy was first and foremost a “people person”. He enjoyed travel and interacting with colleagues and friends locally and worldwide. He was survived by his wife Joan, daughter Joyce Rosenwald, and grandson Todd Nelson. He was predeceased by his brother Stanley, his first wife, Genevieve, and daughter Joan.