Riley Wilson, '77, planned to follow his surgeon father's footsteps into traditional medical practice, until a series of adventures at Whitworth caused him to chart a new course into veterinary medicine. Wilson, who graduated with a major in biology, traveled to Whidbey Island one Spring Break with a group of students and Biology Professor David Hicks, and spent Jan Term '74 there with his sister and Hicks, conducting research. Wilson also took the opportunity to work on a research boat in the Gulf of Alaska, out of Kodiak, conducting research-assessment surveys for fish and crab. "Whitworth recognized the value of trying different experiences and encouraged my passion for learning," Wilson says. His Whitworth experiences also included researching wildlife in South America and Guatemala.
After graduation, Wilson took two years off before heading to graduate school and earning his master's degree in environmental science at Washington State University; he then completed veterinary school at WSU, graduating in 1985, and moved to Anchorage to join a multi-doctor practice.
In 1989, immediately following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Wilson worked to rescue and nurse sea otters back to health in Prince William Sound as part of the largest wildlife rescue project in history. He was only the second vet to arrive on the scene. In 1992, he purchased a small animal clinic in Anchorage, where he continues to practice along with five other doctors.
In addition to his traditional practice, Wilson has been veterinarian at the Alaska Zoo for 20 years, during which time he has worked with an assortment of animals, from bears and moose to exotic sheep and elephants. Some of his most memorable procedures include castrating a 700-pound Siberian tiger, neutering a porcupine, and, with assistance from the head veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo, performing a root canal on a polar bear. "So far I have done some type of medical procedure on every animal in the zoo other than the snow leopards," he says.
Wilson, who enjoys commercial halibut fishing, takes a month off each May to cruise the ocean with his wife, Cindy, his twin daughters, Kenyon and Calista, and his octogenarian father, with whom he has fished for more than 35 years.
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