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{{Short description|American academic and pathologist (1859–1931)}}
{{Infobox academic
| image = Veranus Alva Moore (1929).png
| birth_date = April 13, 1859
| birth_place = [[Hounsfield, New York]], US
| death_date = {{death date and age|1931|02|11|1859|04|13}}
| death_place = [[Ithaca, New York]], US
| education = [[Cornell University]], A.B. 1887<br />
[[Georgetown University School of Medicine|Columbian Medical School]], MD 1890
| discipline = [[Pathology]]
| sub_discipline = [[Bacteriologist]]
| workplaces = [[New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University]]
| occupation = Professor and dean
}}
'''Veranus Alva Moore''' (April 13, 1859 &ndash; February 11, 1931) was an American academic, [[bacteriologist]], and [[pathologist]]. He was a founding faculty member and department chair of the [[New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University|New York State Veterinary College]], now the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. He was dean of the college for 21 years and became a national leader in veterinary science. He was also the superintendent of Memorial Hospital in Ithaca, New York. He was also a founder and first president of [[Phi Zeta]] honor society for veterinary medicine.

== Early life ==
Moore was born in [[Hounsfield, New York]] on April 13, 1859.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=1931-02-11 |title=Dr. Veranus A. Moore, 72, is Dead; Distinguished Cornell Veterinarian Long Served City and University |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-dr-veranus-a-moore/176666419/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Ithaca Journal |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-dr-veranus-a-moore/176666419/ 5], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-dean-moore-dead-care/176669246/ 9] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":6">Gage, Simon Henry. "[https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.73.1899.550 Veranus Alva Moore—Pierre Augustine FIsh]". ''[[Science (journal)|Science]] vol.'' '''73''', no. 1899 (May 22, 1931) pp. 550-553. DOI:10.1126/science.73.1899.550.</ref><ref name="Obit" /> His parents were Antoinette Eastman and Alva Moore.<ref name="Obit" /><ref name=":6" /> When he was thirteen years old, Moore's father died.<ref name="Obit" /> Moore worked on a farm to support his mother and siblings.<ref name="Obit" /><ref name=":6" /> While working, he stepped on a nail, resulting bone infection in his foot that required him to use crutches from the age of 15 to 25, until he was cured by surgery.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> His injury resulted in seeing as many as 125 surgeons and physicians, including spending time at [[Bellevue Hospital]], which sparked his interest in the medical profession.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" />

Moore graduated from the [[Mexico Academy and Central School|Mexico Academy]] in [[Mexico, New York]] in 1882.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1907-06-24 |title=A Noted Scientist: Prof. Veranus Alva Moore of Cornell University |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/elmira-star-gazette-a-noted-scientist-p/176658319/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=Elmira Star-Gazette |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He then taught school in Mexico for a year.<ref name=":2" /> He enrolled in [[Cornell University]] in 1883 to study medicine, graduating with an A.B. in 1887.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":3" /> While at Cornell, he was also a member of [[Phi Sigma Kappa]] fraternity.<ref name=":5" />

Moore took a position as an assistant with the [[United States Department of Agriculture]]'s Bureau of Animal Industry in [[Washington, D.C.]], while also attending graduate school.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" /> He then attended the Columbian Medical School (now [[Georgetown University School of Medicine]]), graduating with an M.D. in 1890.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Obit" />

== Career ==
After graduate school, Moore continued to work as an assistant at the United States Department of Agriculture's Division of Animal Pathology from 1890 to 1896, investigating infectious diseases.<ref name="Marquis">[[iarchive:whoswhoinamerica02marq/page/799/mode/2up|Moore, Veranus Alva]], in ''Who's Who in America'' 1901-1902. John W. Leonard, editor. Chicago: [[A.N. Marquis & Company Publishers|A. N. Marquis & Company Publishers]], 1901. via Internet Archive.</ref><ref name=":2" /> In this capacity, he conducted an in depth study on the impact of cornstalk disease on cattle in the [[American Midwest]].<ref name=":2" /> He spent several weeks investigating [[epizootic]] diseases in Minnesota in the fall of 1895.<ref name=":2" /> He was the chief of the Division of Animal Pathology from 1895 to 1896.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name=":0" /> At the same time, Moore was a professor of normal [[histology]] at the Columbian Medical School from 1894 to 1896, teaching evening courses.<ref name="Obit" /> Moore resigned his position with the USDA in 1896 to become an academic.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1896-10-14 |title=Cornell University |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-evening-transcript-cornell-univer/176655924/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=Boston Evening Transcript |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

When the [[New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University|New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University]] in [[Ithaca, New York]] opened September 1896, Moore was one of its founding faculty members.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1896-09-09 |title=State Veterinary College |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-state-veterinary-colleg/176655037/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Buffalo News |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> He was a professor of bacteriology, pathology, and meat inspection and chair of the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Pathology and Bacteriology.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Varanus |date=January 1908 |title=Bovine tuberculosis |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019743175?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901048745-9 |journal=Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin |issue=250 |pages=268–288. |via=Hathi Trust}}</ref><ref name="Obit" /> Moore was dean of the veterinary college from 1908 to 1929.<ref name="Obit">{{cite journal |last1=Gage |first1=Simon Henry |date=July 1931 |title=Veranus Alva Moore, 1859-1931 |url=https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jb.22.1.iv.2-5.1931 |journal=[[Journal of Bacteriology]] |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=iv.2–5 |doi=10.1128/JB.22.1.iv.2-5.1931 |pmc=533247 |pmid=16559507 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> Moore established the departments laboratory, which prepared vaccines for [[anthrax]], [[glanders]], and [[tuberculosis]] for veterinarians across New York state.<ref name=":2" /> This lab was considered "the best equipped of its kind and...a model for other scientific institutions."<ref name=":2" />

Moore became a national leader in veterinary science.<ref name=":3" /> He perfected a way to identify the horse disease glanders, which was implemented across the United States.<ref name=":2" /> In 1903, he was hired by the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California, Berkely]] to spend two months studying diseases on fowl ranches in California.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1903-06-20 |title=Dr. Veranus Moore Coming |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/petaluma-daily-morning-courier-dr-veran/176669412/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=Petaluma Daily Morning Courier |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1903-06-20 |title=Will Doctor Sick Chickens in Petaluma |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-will-doctor-s/176669942/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |pages=4}}</ref> Moore was also a strong advocate of [[rabies]] legislation.<ref name=":2" />

In 1905, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] appointed Moore was a representative to the International Veterinary Congress's Conference on Tuberculosis in [[Budapest, Hungary]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> Moore reviewed the [[Federal Meat Inspection Act]] of 1906 and helped evaluate candidates for the [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]] in 1907.<ref name=":3" /> He was also appointed to the Ithaca Board of Health in 1910, serving for twelve years.<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":5" />

Moore was president of the [[Society of American Bacteriologists]] in 1910. During [[World War I]], he was assigned to the Surgeon General's office, where he helped establish the [[United States Army Veterinary Corps]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Obit" /> In 1930, President [[Herbert Hoover]] appointed Moore to serve on the [[White House Conference on Children and Youth]].<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />

Moore was also a member of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], the [[American Medical Association]], the [[American Public Health Association]], the [[American Veterinary Medical Association]] of Tompkins County, the [[National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis]], the New York State Medical Society, and the Society of American Pathologists and Bacteriologists.<ref name=":2" /> Moore published more than 250 papers in professional and government publications.<ref name="Marquis" /><ref name="Obit" /> He was elected to Ithaca's board of education for twelve years, becoming its president in 1922.<ref name=":5" /> In 1925, Moore helped establish [[Phi Zeta]] honor society for veterinary medicine and served as its first president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Society of Phi Zeta |url=https://dvm.vetmed.vt.edu/content/dvm_vetmed_vt_edu/en/about-dvm-program/society-of-phi-zeta.html |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine |publisher=Virginia Tech |language=en}}</ref> He also served as a faculty representative on Cornell University's board of trustees from 1926 to 1929.<ref name="Obit" />

Moore retired from Cornell University in 1929 as an emeritus dean at the age of seventy.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1929-06-11 |title=Praise Dean, Veterinary Leadership |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-praise-dean-veterina/176670220/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Ithaca Journal |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>"The Retirement of Dean Veranus A. Moore of Cornell University". ''[[Science (journal)|Science]] vol.'' '''70''', no. 1802 (July 12, 1929), pp. 32-32. DOI:10.1126/science.70.1802.32.a</ref> He then became the superintendent of Ithaca Memorial Hospital, after having served as one of its trustees from January 1918 until late 1929.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1931-02-17 |title=Geer to Stay as President of Hospital |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-geer-to-stay-as-presi/176665491/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Ithaca Journal |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> While he was dean at veterinary school, he helped the hospital establish a department of pathology and bacteriology.<ref name=":4" />

== Honors ==
Moore was a member of [[Sigma Xi]] and [[Phi Kappa Phi]] honor societies.<ref name=":5" />

Moore received an honorary [[Doctor of Veterinary Medicine]] from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in 1911,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1911-07-05 |title=Honorary Degrees of the Year |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-evening-transcript-honorary-degre/176655627/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=Boston Evening Transcript |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and an honorary [[Doctor of Science]] from [[Syracuse University]] in 1919.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-06-14 |title=Dean Moore Given Honorary Degree |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-dean-moore-given-hono/176666023/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Ithaca Journal |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-06-12 |title=Honorary Degrees Conferred |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-honorary-degrees-conf/176666167/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The New York Times |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

He was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, England, in January 1931.<ref name=":5" />

Moore was included in the 1934 book, ''[[Dictionary of American Biography]],'' volume 13''.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1934-04-19 |title=Crippled as Boy, Dr. Moore's Courage Made Him a Leader in Science, Biography Reveals |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ithaca-journal-crippled-as-boy-dr/176661475/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |work=The Ithaca Journal |pages=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The biographical sketch was written by John R. Moher, chief of the U.S. Bureau of Animal Husbandry in Washington, D.C.<ref name=":3" />

==Personal life==
Moore married Mary L. Slawson of [[Cicero, New York]] on July 12, 1892.<ref name=Marquis/> They had two sons and a daughter; both of his sons became doctors.<ref name=":5" />

Moore was a director of the Ithaca Savings and Loan Association.<ref name=":5" /> He was a member of the Gown Club of Ithaca, the Ithaca Rotary Club, and joined the [[Cosmos Club]] of [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1895.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=http://archive.org/details/twentyfifthanniv00cosm |title=The twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C.: with a documentary history of the Club from its organization to November 16, 1903 |publisher=Washington, D.C.: Cosmos Club |year=1904 |language=English}}</ref> He was master of the Hobasco Lodge No. 761 of the [[Free and Accepted Masons]], district deputy of the Cayuga-Tompkins Masonic District, and belonged to Eagle Chapter 58 of the [[Royal Arch Masonry|Royal Arch Masons]]; St. Augustine Commandry No. 38 of the [[Knights Templar (Freemasonry)|Knights Templar]]; and the [[Shriners|Kalurah Temple of the Shrine]].<ref name=":5" /> Moore was also a member of the First Methodist Church in Ithaca.<ref name=":5" />

Moore died in Ithaca Memorial Hospital in Ithaca, New York, on February 11, 1931.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> He had intestinal surgery the prior week and died from stress to his heart.<ref name=":5" />

==Selected publications ==

* "[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019742003?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901046013-9 Powdered soap as a cause of death among swill-fed hogs]". ''Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin,'' no. 141 (November 1897) pp.&nbsp;410–418.
* ''[[iarchive:laboratorydirect00moorrich|Laboratory directions for beginners in bacteriology]]''. Ithaca: Press of Andrus & Church, 1898.
* "[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019742185?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901046619-11 An inquiry concerning the source of gas and taint producing bacteria in cheese curd]". with Archibald Robinson Ward. ''Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin,'' no. 158 (January 1899) pp.&nbsp;222–237.
* ''[[iarchive:cu31924002962169|The pathology and differential diagnosis of infectious diseases of animals]]''. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1902.
* ''[[iarchive:cu31924000232961/page/n1/mode/2up|Bacteria in milk. A summary of the present knowledge concerning their source and significance]]''. Albany: State of New York, 1902.
* "[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019742904?urlappend=%3Bseq=7%3Bownerid=13510798901048821-13 Bovine Tuberculosis]". ''Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin,'' no. 225 (February 1905) pp.&nbsp;81–92.
* ''[[iarchive:cu31924057010559|The pathology and differential diagnosis of infectious diseases of animals]]''. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1906.
* "[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019758413?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901378844-11 The Bang method of controlling tuberculosis, with an illustration of its application]"''.'' with H. A. Harding and George A. Smith. ''New York Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin,'' no. 277 (1906).
* "Bovine [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019743175?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901048745-9 tuberculosis]". ''Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin,'' no. 250 (January 1908) pp.&nbsp;268–288.
* "[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112019743688?urlappend=%3Bseq=5%3Bownerid=13510798901045608-9 The elimination of tubercle bacilli from infected cattle, and the control of bovine tuberculosis and infected milk]". ''Cornell University Agriculture Station Bulletin,'' no. 299 (May 1911) pp.&nbsp;698–714. 
* ''[[iarchive:principlesofmicr00moorrich|Principles of microbiology; a treatise on Bacteria, Fungi and Protozoa pathogenic for domesticated animals]]''. Ithaca: Taylor and Carpenter, 1912. 
* ''[[iarchive:bovinetuberculos00moor|Bovine tuberculosis and its control]].'' Ithaca: Carpenter & Company, 1913.
* [[iarchive:principlesmicro01moorgoog/page/n10/mode/2up|''Principles of'' ''Microbiology: a treatise on bacteria, fungi and protozoa pathogenic for domesticated animals'']]''.'' New York: The McMillian Company, 1916.

== Further reading ==

* Moore, Norman S. and Haight, Helena H., and Gage, Simon Henry. ''[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924001132525?urlappend=%3Bseq=3%3Bownerid=27021597769877985-7 Veranus Alva Moore, A Biography]''. Ithaca, New York, 1931.

== References ==
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{{Presidents of the American Society for Microbiology|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Veranus Alva}}
[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:American pathologists]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Cornell University faculty]]
[[Category:People from Hounsfield, New York]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:College honor society founders]]
[[Category:George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:19th-century American academics]]
[[Category:American academic administrators]]
[[Category:American Freemasons]]
[[Category:Phi Sigma Kappa]]