Stange Award for Meritorious Service
College of Veterinary Medicine
Established in 1970 to honor alumni for outstanding professional achievements in education, government, industry, practice, or other professional endeavors in veterinary medicine

Gary Lee Knutsen

DVM ’75
Naples, Fla.

Gary Knutsen is an accomplished researcher, pathologist, and entrepreneur. He is the president and managing member of Systems Pathology Company, LLC—a computerized imaging company. He is also chairman and CEO of Toxicologic Pathology Associates, Inc., a company that serves the research pathology needs of the FDA’s National Center for Toxicologic Research.

His most noteworthy accomplishment was the founding of Pathology Associates International (PAI) in 1981. Under his direction, PAI became the largest independent toxicologic pathology provider in the world. PAI emphasized the assessment of state-of-the-art molecular, immuno-, and “omics-related” technologies and the integration of the science to augment traditional toxicologic pathology methods. The company was included on INC magazine’s “500 list” and as part of the “Fast 50” for its growth and service. PAI is now a division of Charles River Laboratories.

Early in his career, Knutsen was a researcher and pathology resident at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease in Ft. Detrick, Md. Prior to founding PAI, he was head of the Experimental Pathology/Histotechnology Laboratory at the Frederick Cancer Research Facility, National Cancer Institute in Maryland. 

In the words of a colleague, “He is a unique individual, and one who has positively impacted the careers of many veterinarians, pathologists, and other scientists in the areas of toxicology, pathology, cancer research, and laboratory animal medicine.”