My Take Tuesday: Guided by Greatness

I’ve been lucky to meet many great minds in veterinary medicine. But only a few have left an imprint so lasting that I carry it with me every single day.

Dr. Ahmed Tibary is one of them.

He is a world-renowned theriogenologist — a pioneer in camelid reproduction, a brilliant clinician, and a scientific mind whose legacy will echo through generations of veterinarians. But before the accolades, before many of the textbooks, and before the Bartlett Award, he was simply… my mentor.

And then he became my friend.

I first met Dr. Tibary wide-eyed and eager, not yet realizing how much I didn’t know. He had this way of making complex things make sense — not by simplifying them, but by elevating you. He believed in what I could become long before I had any reason to believe it myself.

He introduced me to camelids — but more importantly, he introduced me to possibility.

He taught me how to approach the unknown — in science, in species, and in people. How to be precise without being rigid, confident without being arrogant, and humble enough to let the animals teach us what we didn’t yet understand. He showed me how to lead with curiosity, with compassion, and with a commitment to both the science and the soul of veterinary medicine.

And sometimes, his mentorship came in the quietest of moments.

Years ago, we shared an elevator — just the two of us. No fanfare, no audience, just that quiet space between floors. Out of nowhere, he turned to me and said:

“One day, you’ll be president of the Society for Theriogenology.”

I laughed. I didn’t believe it — not even a little. I was just a student, still finding my footing in the field. The idea felt distant. Me? President?

But he didn’t say it like a suggestion. He said it like a fact.

That’s the thing about Dr. Tibary. He sees beyond the present moment. He sees potential before it blooms.

And that passing comment — spoken in an elevator — stayed with me. It followed me through cases and conferences, setbacks, and small victories. It lit a path I didn’t know I was on.

In 2017, I stood at the podium as President of the Society for Theriogenology — the very role he saw in me a decade earlier. As I looked out across the room filled with colleagues and friends, I thought of him. I thought of that elevator. And I thought of the power of belief.

Dr. Tibary didn’t just teach me theriogenology. He taught me how to see — not just what’s in front of me, but what’s within me.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of walking beside this man — in lecture halls, in clinics, and in conference corridors from the Palouse to St Louis. Listening. Learning. Laughing. (And make no mistake — Dr. Tibary is funny. Quietly. Brilliantly. He once told me camels were “designed by committee,” and I’ve never looked at them the same way since.)

Beyond his guidance in traditional theriogenology, Dr. Tibary has been instrumental in helping me pioneer assisted reproduction techniques in species far outside the norm. With his encouragement and technical insight, I’ve developed protocols for artificial insemination in reindeer, white-tailed deer, mule deer, water buffalo, and even bighorn sheep. These ventures were anything but straightforward — but Dr. Tibary helped me approach each challenge with curiosity and scientific rigor, never once treating these unconventional patients as anything less than worthy of our best efforts. His mentorship gave me both the confidence and the competence to explore new frontiers in multispecies reproduction.

I hope someday I can be to someone else what Dr. Tibary has been to me. That, I believe, is the greatest tribute a mentor can receive — not just admiration, but continuation.

Thank you, Dr. Tibary. For your brilliance. For your kindness. For your quiet confidence in what I could become.

You believed in me.

And that made all the difference.

And That is My Take.

N. Isaac Bott, DVM