Delaware Tech’s Autumn Cooper named vet tech of the year

Delaware Technical Community College alumna and adjunct instructor Autumn Cooper of Selbyville recently received the inaugural Delaware Veterinary Technician of the Year Award from the Delaware Veterinary Medical Association.

“I am so honored to receive this award,” Cooper said. “This has been the most humbling and gratifying moment of my technician career.”

The award is presented to a licensed veterinary technician who is a member in good standing of the Delaware Veterinary Medical Association, and has shown a positive contribution to the advancement of the profession and veterinary technicians in Delaware.

Cooper graduated from Delaware Tech in 2013 with a degree in veterinary technology. She earned her bachelor of science degree in business management from Wilmington University in 2018. Cooper began working at Savannah Animal Hospital in Lewes in 2013, and worked as an educational laboratory specialist at Delaware Tech from 2013-16. She has been an adjunct instructor for Delaware Tech since 2016, teaching anatomy and physiology, veterinary nursing, surgical and anesthesia nursing, and dental procedure/imaging.

“Autumn is compassionate, smart, hardworking, and driven,” said Lisa Garrison, veterinary technology instructor. “Her passion for learning and education, and elevating licensed veterinary technologists in this profession, is commendable. I am honored to have been part of her journey from the first time I met her in 2010 as a student to now as a leader in the profession.”

Veterinary medicine has been a lifelong passion for Cooper.

“Like many in the veterinary field, I was blessed to grow up in a home with a variety of animals,” Cooper said. “I quickly learned, through routine pet care and pet emergencies, that an important part of loving an animal is making sure that it receives veterinary care.”

Cooper said the education she received at Delaware Tech helped her get to where she is today.

“The instructional team at Delaware Tech has been vital in propelling me to success in the veterinary field,” she said. “I am so grateful to my instructors, mentors, co-workers, family, friends, and God for my continued success and future opportunities.”

For more information on the veterinary technology program, go to www.dtcc.edu/programs.