Dr. Paul Nicoletti's Obituary
Dr. Paul Nicoletti, a veterinarian and epidemiologist who spent the bulk of his career with the USDA and the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, passed away Sunday, January 31, 2016.
Nicoletti was born in 1932 in Goodman, Missouri, and grew up on a small dairy farm. He graduated from the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1956. In 1962 he earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, where he wrote his thesis on brucellosis.
From 1962 to 1968, Nicoletti worked as a USDA regional epidemiologist in Albany, New York. From 1968 to 1972, he served in Iran as an epizootiologist for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. He then returned to the United States and to his work as a regional epidemiologist with the USDA. In 1975 he was transferred to Gainesville, Florida.
In 1978 Nicoletti joined the faculty at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Nicoletti was a member of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association, and the American Association of Food Hygiene Veterinarians. He was a past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, the Florida Veterinary Medical Association, the Alachua County Veterinary Medical Association, and Animal Disease Research Workers in the Southern States.
Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Nicoletti has received numerous awards and honors. In 1994 he was named Veterinarian of the Year by the Florida Veterinary Medical Association, and in 2003 he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine. His most prestigious award came in 2010 when he was recognized with the Meyer-Steele Gold Head Cane Award, the highest honor of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society. This award recognizes scientists who have significantly advanced human health through the practice of veterinary epidemiology and public health.
Dr. Nicoletti retired from the University of Florida in 2003.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Earlene Nicoletti in 2011 and daughter, Diana Nicoletti. He is survived by his children, Nancy Leader of Hattiesburg, MS and Julie Nicoletti of Louisville, CO; sister, Ruthann Eads of Grove, OK and four grandchildren, Joel Parker, Beth Leader, Julia Leader and Daniel Leader.
A Gathering for Dr. Nicoletti will be held Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a service beginning at 5:00 p.m., at WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 404 North Main Street, with Rev. Carl Romey officiating. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make memorials to Office of Development, UF College of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 100125, Gainesville, FL 32610-00125 or www.uff.ufl.edu/appeals/nicoletti.
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