Ficken names A&M Regents Fellow Service Award winner

The Texas A&M University System named seven faculty and agency service professionals from Texas A&M AgriLife as Regents Professors and Regents Fellows for 2022-2023, including one in Gonzales.

The Board established the Regents Professor Awards program in 1996 and the Regents Fellow Service Awards program in 1998 to recognize employees who have made extraordinary contributions to their university or agency, as well as to the people of Texas.

Martin Ficken, DVM, Ph.D., is the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory resident director at the Sam and Sally Glass Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory in Gonzales. Ficken joined TVMDL in 2009 as a pathologist at the College Station laboratory. For two years, he assisted the laboratory with necropsy and pathology services for a wide range of animals. However, he quickly became a trusted subject matter expert for avian species.

In 2011, Dr. Ficken assumed the role of interim resident director for TVMDL’s Sam and Sally Glass Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory in Gonzales. In 2012, his role was made official, and he began his tenure as the lab’s resident director.

Ficken leads a four-person staff at TVMDL’s Gonzales laboratory. This small team is directly responsible for over one-third of TVMDL’s poultry testing. The agency’s poultry client roster includes multiple state and national producers in addition to backyard bird owners.

As a board-certified poultry pathologist and veterinarian, Ficken is accustomed to working with all types of clients and providing them with the same level of exceptional service. In addition to his commitment to diagnostics, Ficken also dedicates time to education. He is TVMDL’s most frequently requested speaker for poultry topics and regularly contributes to seminars and other educational opportunities at Texas A&M University.