Allan Clark Pier

Dr. Allan Clark Pier, professor of veterinary medicine, medical mycology and mycotoxicology emeritus at the University of Wyoming, passed away Jan. 25, 2012, at the age of 84. Born Jan. 17, 1928, in Chicago, Ill., Dr. Pier grew up in Oakland, Calif., with his brother, Mackay Pier, and cousin, Dave Hawkins, spending summers in Spearfish, S.D., and the ranch on Oshoto, Wyo. He graduated from Oakland High School in 1945, before serving as a medic in the U.S. Army Air Corps during 1946 to 1948, with duty in Korea. He received his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of California at Davis in 1950, practicing veterinary medicine in Humboldt County, Calif., before returning to UC-Davis to earn his Ph.D. in microbiology and bacteriology in 1961. Dr. Pier was employed by the USDA's National Animal Disease Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, serving as chairman of the Bacteriology Department, where he researched communicable diseases between humans and animals. He collaborated with Iowa State University, teaching microbiology and bacteriology classes during his employment at NADL. Dr. Pier joined the University of Wyoming in Laramie in 1984 as head of the Department of Veterinary Science and oversaw the expansion of the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, later serving as its director. He was appointed to the World Health Organization panel of international specialists in medical mycology in 1987 and represented the United States at the liaison conference between the WHO and the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology in Oslo, Norway, in 1987. Dr. A.C. Pier's final contribution to science, the research he loved, was as professor at the University of Wyoming, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie. Dr. Pier was an internationally recognized authority on medical mycology and fungal diseases of animals. His extensive research and lectures took him around the world to share information with colleagues. He is survived by his three children, Edwin Clark Pier of Laramie, Wyo., Elizabeth Pier Smith of Rogers, Ark., and Stephen McKay Pier of New York; five grandchildren, James Caleb Smith of Ann Arbor, Mich., Kelsey Lynne Mangin of Cave Springs, Ark., Luke McKay Smith of Rogers, Ark., Alison Pier Cuasay of San Diego, Calif., Aaron Inapu Pier of Guam; and a great-granddaughter, Lexie Elise Mangin of Cave Springs, Ark. A memorial service is planned for June 16 at noon in Laramie, Wyo., at Dr. A.C. Pier's home, 1170 Welsh Lane. In respect for his deep appreciation of the outdoors and avid fly-fishing, the family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to Wyoming Fish and Game's program to expand fishing access: ACCESS YES Program, Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, 3030 Energy Lane, Casper WY 82604, ATTN: Matt Buhler.