Georgette Wilson ’85
 The Chapin yearbook photograph of Georgette Wilson ’85, who now works for Pfizer and develops medicines to help sick animals, shows her cradling the family cat, an image prophetic of the career that has brought her joy as well as distinction.
Dr. Wilson wanted to become a veterinarian as early as Middle School and credits Chapin’s science teachers with inspiring her. “It wasn’t so much the classes,” she said. “It was the nurturing by the teachers, the feeling they gave you that whatever you wanted to do was possible.” It was her parents, though, who later gave her the best career advice she has ever received, suggesting that before she firmly embark on her career path, she first volunteer at the ASPCA. This is counsel that Dr. Wilson would pass on to anyone considering a career in her field. “It’s more than about loving animals — you have to love medicine, too, she said, “and be prepared for the suffering you will see.”
After her volunteer work and four years at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Wilson was still intent on her early career choice and entered Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, earning her degree in 1993. The college exposed her to many specialties in her field, such as cardiology, radiology and neurology. It was at Cornell that Dr. Wilson encountered ailing bears and mountain lions, a Siberian tiger scheduled for cataract surgery, and snakes (not her favorite type of patient). She learned about vets who fly around the world treating only zoo animals and about those who are attached to the military, which has a huge demand for doctors who know about infectious and exotic diseases that are transmitted by animals.
After a year at the Hoboken Animal Hospital in New Jersey and an internship at the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine, during which she taught fourth-year students, Dr. Wilson went on to work at the North Shore Animal League on Long Island, where she remained for seven years, restoring sick animals to health and “seeing them become pets going to good homes.” A Manhattan resident, she found the commute back home increasingly difficult after intense hours of work, and this led her to leave North Shore. Following a term at Manhattan’s ASPCA, she joined the New York office of Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical giant, which has a big animal-health division. She is now the company’s manager of veterinary operations.
A former colleague had urged her to apply to Pfizer. Dr. Wilson remembers the compelling argument: “Instead of using your knowledge to save just one animal, you can save thousands through the medicines the company is producing.” Dr. Wilson has never regretted her decision. And as someone committed to the well-being of animals, she has not had to struggle with ethical dilemmas. “Pfizer is very careful about the way in which its animal products are developed,” she said. “People there are extremely aware of any kind of animal suffering, and that gives me confidence.” Dr. Wilson, who is the mother of a little girl, Naomi, also arranges her schedule so that she can travel for Pfizer whenever she can. For example, she attended an international conference in Greece where she lectured on Slentrol, a weight-loss product for dogs. As she spoke, her words were translated into French, Spanish, Italian and German.
In spite of the pleasures and pressures of her present job, Dr. Wilson still cherishes direct contact with animals. Whenever she can, she returns to the North Shore Animal League, where good vets are always needed, to work on a per diem basis. The most gratifying, memorable moments of her career are not the conferences she has attended or the television appearances and radio interviews that she has done. They include, instead, the times she rescued a light-brown puppy from near death and the time she saved a cat from the trauma of an 18-story fall. “I can picture everything about those cases, “she said. “You do everything you can medically, and then you hope for the best.”
Last updated 11.30.07
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