Supporting the newest Auburn veterinarians in more ways than one

As a graduate of Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Beth Anne Frost doesn’t have to imagine what philanthropy can do — she’s lived it.

She’s seen how scholarships can lift the burden of tuition and how donor support can save students from years of compounding interest on loans after graduation. But when she thinks back on philanthropy’s impact, one memory stands out above all others: a box of plastic bones.

“As freshmen learning anatomy, we were given a toolbox containing a replica of an entire dog skeleton,” she said. “We learned by touch, feeling all the grooves and ridges of the bones, and it helped us immensely, not only in anatomy freshman year but later in our systems classes, especially musculoskeletal and orthopedics. The year I arrived, those bone boxes had just been refurbished, thanks to Centennial Club funds.”

Today, Frost herself is a donor and member of the Centennial Club, the CVM donor society that launched during the college’s centennial celebration in 1992. The organization’s support allows the CVM to update equipment or facilities for teaching, research and clinical practice that are not included in the college’s annual budget.

“The Centennial Club allows Dean [Calvin] Johnson to make quick financial decisions to pay for things that are immediately needed,” Frost said. “I think the bone box is such a tangible example of why it's important; it just creates better veterinarians, better Auburn grads.”

A place to call home

From the time she was little, Frost, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, was certain she wanted to follow her father into veterinary medicine. But he knew the dream came with long hours and hard realities and tried to talk her out of it.

As a practicing veterinarian, Frost serves on CVM’s Alumni Advisory Council, sharing the key challenges of the profession with Dean Calvin Johnson.

So, Frost took a different path, earning a Master of Public Health in 2009 and building a career as an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control in Nashville, Tennessee. But her work studying zoonotic diseases revealed an undeniable truth that human health and animal health are inseparable, and the pull toward veterinary medicine only grew stronger.

Frost and her father set out to tour veterinary programs across the Southeast. It didn’t take long for them to reach the same conclusion; Auburn was where she was meant to become a vet.

“Auburn felt like home from the beginning,” she said. “When I went on the vet school tour, you saw animals. They showed what day-to-day life is like for both vet students and veterinarians, and that really resonated with me.”

As a student, Frost earned multiple scholarships and was elected to serve as president of the college for Auburn’s Student Government Association — a role she valued for the opportunity to engage with her peers and understand the work that shapes the college’s curriculum and facilities, including the grand opening of the donor-funded Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital in 2014.

“We were the first class to be learning in new classrooms and a gorgeous new hospital,” Frost said. “Through my conversations with the dean, I began to realize not only what a fabulous place Auburn is, but how important it is for donors and alumni to stay engaged so students can have the absolute best experience possible.”

Frost’s favorite Auburn memory is graduation day; as student body president, she read her classmates’ names as they crossed the stage to be hooded by CVM faculty and family members who practice veterinary medicine, a tradition that officially welcomes them into the profession.

That moment carries deeper meaning now. Her father — who joined the Centennial Club to support his daughter’s alma mater — passed away in 2022.

“I’ve rewatched the tapes and you can see me realize I’m going to have to say my own name,” she recalled with a laugh. “My dad was waiting on stage with my hood, so, I said my own name and crossed the stage. And then he hooded me — being hooded by my biggest cheerleader and mentor, my dad, is my favorite memory.”

Building a career

After graduation, Frost returned to Nashville to practice. Two years later, she was visiting Jacksonville when an unexpected opportunity arose.

“I was in town for Christmas when a neighbor said, ‘I wish you’d move back to Jacksonville; I just don’t know what I’m going to do when my 80-year-old veterinarian retires,’” she said. “About a year later, I ended up purchasing that practice, and two years later, a second practice came up for sale slightly north of the city, and I was fortunate to be able to purchase it as well.” 

As a veterinarian and business owner, Frost keeps things running smoothly at her two practices —  Pottsburg Creek Animal Clinic and Nassau Veterinary Hospital — by relying on a team of practitioners and office support staff. She hosts preceptorships and mentors students from Auburn, and she’s thrilled to be hiring her first Auburn graduate this spring.

“There are a lot of changes in the veterinary medicine field right now, but Auburn evolves to continue to produce veterinarians who are practice ready,” Frost said. “I really enjoy seeing how Auburn shapes these young new veterinarians.”

Giving back in more ways than one

That level of preparedness is thanks in part to Frost and other practicing veterinarians who serve on CVM’s Alumni Advisory Council, bringing real-world experience and expertise to a rapidly evolving curriculum. Frost highlights artificial intelligence and animal dental care as key challenges in the profession and advocates for continued hands‑on training — an approach that reflects her commitment to learning as much as she teaches.

“I want the new graduates I hire to teach me things too,” she said. “I go to as much continuing education as I can, but I’m constantly asking my new vets what they learned in school.”

Now, Frost is carrying on her father’s legacy of caring for animals and giving back to the institution that launched her veterinary career. From advising faculty and making in-kind gifts to supporting the college as a Centennial Club member, she remains deeply invested. Having celebrated her 10^th reunion last year, she’s encouraging her classmates to join her.

“Why give to Auburn? Because it’s given so much to us, including this amazing career that we’re all so grateful for,” she said. “Giving back is so incredibly important.”