{"id":3388,"date":"2019-11-04T11:06:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T19:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/?p=3388"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:22:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T17:22:56","slug":"the-longest-donors-giving-back-for-45-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/2019\/11\/04\/the-longest-donors-giving-back-for-45-years\/","title":{"rendered":"The Longest Donors: Giving Back for 45 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2019 Issue<\/a><\/p>\n

by Marcia Hill Gossard \u201999, \u201904 Ph.D.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1966 when Norm Rantanen (\u201967 DVM, \u201971 M.S.) was in his third year of veterinary school, he signed up for the early commissioning program with the U.S. Air Force. When the time came for him and his wife Marlene to be stationed for his first assignment with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at the Walter Reed Army post in Washington, D.C., the young couple found they needed a little financial help to make the move. They applied for the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine student loan fund and received $300.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant a lot to us at the time to get that money,\u201d says Marlene. \u201cWe paid it back at $10 a month and just never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 45 years and counting, the Rantanens are the longest consecutive donors to the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine.<\/p>\n

The Road to Equine Sports Radiology<\/h6>\n

Norm grew up in Spokane, Washington. When his older brother decided to attend WSU, Norm followed him. And his interest in science led him to veterinary medicine. \u201cAfter visiting with people in the veterinary school, I thought I would like it, so I applied,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But it was during his third year of veterinary school that he discovered his passion for radiology. \u201cOnce I was introduced to radiology by Jack Alexander, he gave me a very good impression about what could be done in the field. From that time on I was interested in imaging,\u201d he said. Dr. Alexander was the very first radiologist hired at the college.<\/p>\n

After his assignment in D.C., Norm returned to WSU to earn a master\u2019s degree in 1971. He continued to serve in the Air Force until 1975 and was then hired by his alma mater to teach veterinary radiology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been teaching at WSU and took a leave to go to Kentucky to see the potential with ultrasound for racehorses,\u201d says Norm. \u201cOnce I got there, I knew there was a lot of good work I could do.\u201d Marlene (\u201964 B.A., \u201983 B.S.) finished her degree in Landscape Architecture at WSU in 1983 and joined him in Kentucky.<\/p>\n

Norm worked as an imaging consultant for racehorses and used ultrasound as diagnostic technology. At the time, this work was brand new. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t anyone else doing such a thing,\u201d says Marlene.<\/p>\n

Before using ultrasound, Norm explains, someone might say a horse\u2019s leg felt hot and know that the horse was in pain, but they didn\u2019t know exactly what was going on inside of the leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltrasound allows us to peek under the skin so we can see the injured tendons,\u201d says Norm.<\/p>\n

And that helped pinpoint a more accurate form of treatment for racehorses. \u201cWith ultrasound you can see the soft tissue and muscular skeletal structure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Norm treated some of the top horses in the circuit, including racing thoroughbreds Seattle Slew and Secretariat. When Seattle Slew developed arthritis in his neck, for instance, Norm used ultrasound to help pinpoint precisely where to inject cortisone to relieve the pain.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI was so impressed by the faculty when I was at WSU, it is easy for me to pay back and help students.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014Norm Rantanen (’67 DVM)<\/p>\n

\n
Leading by Example<\/h6>\n

During an alumni reception at the American Association of Equine Practitioners annual conference in 2017, WSU equine veterinarian Warwick Bayly announced that the WSU equine program was raising money for a new ultrasound machine. Norm and Marlene were the first to raise their hands to give.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very important modality for me, and I felt good about giving,\u201d says Norm. \u201cThe equipment is changing rapidly so I thought it would be better for students to learn from a state-of-the-art machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Norm didn\u2019t stop there. He began to encourage other alumni at the event to give as well. \u201cI knew how much it would benefit the students at WSU to have the new machine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Lifelong Giving<\/h6>\n

Norm and Marlene left Kentucky in 1991 and moved to California where Norm still works as an imaging specialist. And they continue to support the college wherever they can.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we are not the biggest givers, but we are consistent,\u201d says Marlene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so impressed by the faculty when I was at WSU, it is easy for me to pay back and help students,\u201d says Norm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1966 when Norm Rantanen (\u201967 DVM, \u201971 M.S.) was in his third year of veterinary school, he signed up for the early commissioning program with the U.S. Air Force. When the time came for him and his wife Marlene to be stationed for his first assignment with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at the Walter Reed Army post in Washington, D.C., the young couple found they needed a little financial help to make the move. They applied for the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine student loan fund and received $300.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant a lot to us at the time to get that money,\u201d says Marlene. \u201cWe paid it back at $10 a month and just never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1015,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":[]},"categories":[514],"tags":[619,540,614,591],"wsuwp_university_location":[332],"wsuwp_university_org":[425],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3388"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3440,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3388\/revisions\/3440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=3388"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvm.wsu.edu\/advance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=3388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}