Stacy Morris, former assistant director for the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, has been promoted to the agency’s associate director. In her new role, Morris will provide executive leadership for operational aspects including core business strategies, executive operations, human resources, personnel development, client services, business intelligence, marketing & communication, outreach, and other agency-wide initiatives.
“Stacy has served the agency with distinction for over 12 years,” TVMDL Interim Director Amy Swinford, DVM, MS, said. “She is a true visionary and has worked tirelessly to ensure TVMDL’s staff, processes, and services are some of the best and most efficient in the nation. She’s an exceptional leader and I am confident she will continue to embody the same passion and fortitude in her new role that she has exuded during her tenure with the agency.”
Since joining TVMDL, Morris has led efforts to create a supervisor training program, employee career ladder, customized performance evaluation tools, and an educational reimbursement program. She recently assumed leadership of an agency interdisciplinary team that administers TVMDL’s laboratory information management system (LIMS), and implemented a data-driven fee analysis program for TVMDL’s 700+ test offerings and services. Her leadership has led to improved quality control of data inputs, allowing maximization of the agency’s analytical capabilities.
Additionally, Morris’s agency-wide marketing and communications initiative, established in 2011, has contributed to TVMDL’s double digit increase in testing volume and revenue. Morris also leads efficiency and streamlining efforts, including transitioning the agency to a paperless case review system and implementing lean project management systems.
Morris is a 1999 graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural development. She continued her education at Texas A&M and earned a Master of Agriculture in natural resources development. She also holds a Lean Office and Service Certificate from the University of Michigan.
Including her time at TVMDL, Morris has dedicated over 20 years of service to the State of Texas and its associated agencies. Following graduation, she worked as a program coordinator for Texas A&M’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Internship program. In 2000, she served as an assistant committee clerk for the Agriculture and Livestock Committee for the Texas House of Representatives in Austin.
Continuing her commitment to public service, in 2003 Morris joined he V.G. Young Institute of County Government, part of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. For six years, she designed and executed continuing education programs, executive leadership trainings, and other programs for elected county officials. While working at the Institute, Morris received both the National and State Epsilon Sigma Phi award for early career service. Following her time at the Institute, Morris began a dual role as chief of staff for both the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife, and TVMDL.
Morris was recognized as a Regents Fellow by the Texas A&M University System in 2016, earned the Texas A&M AgriLife Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence in 2014, and the TVMDL Director’s Excellence Award in 2010.
For more information about TVMDL, visit tvmdl.tamu.edu.