For Sandra Manfra Marretta, D.V.M.’77, becoming a national authority on veterinary dentistry hadn’t been her intended career path. “I wasn’t necessarily drawn towards animal dentistry, I think it was drawn to me,” Manfra-Marretta says. 

However, fate had different plans. At a clinical staff at the Animal Medical Center in 1983 “I was at my first staff meeting after returning to the Animal Medical Center after being in private practice for two years, and the head of the hospital asked if anyone was interested in learning how to do a root canal. I raised my hand since I was eager to learn something new,” she says. “However, when I saw that nobody else was raising their hand I started to take my hand down. The head of the hospital immediately said, ‘Too late Manfra, you’re going to be our dentist’.” 

That mistakenly raised hand has since shaped Manfra Maretta’s career, and is partly to thank for her most recent achievement: receiving the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM)’s 2026 Daniel Elmer Salmon Award for Distinguished Alumni Service. 

This award recognizes those who have distinguished themselves in service to the profession, their communities or to the college. It was established by the CVM Alumni Association in 1986 and named in honor of Cornell's first D.V.M. graduate, Daniel Elmer Salmon. Salmon is best remembered for his pioneering work in controlling contagious animal diseases in the early twentieth century and the bacterium Salmonella that was named in his honor. 

The award has gone to many of CVM’s greats, including notable alumni Alexander de Lahunta, D.V.M. '58, Ph.D. '63, Francis H. Fox, D.V.M.’45, and Robert B. Hillman '55, M.S. '61. Manfra Marretta is a fitting addition. “She is known as one of the 'giants' of veterinary dentistry,” says Dr. Michael Balke, board-certified veterinary dentist with Arizona Veterinary Dental Specialists. “If all of us had a portion of her drive and big heart, what a better world this would be.” 

The Cornell years 

Manfra Marretta’s start of her veterinary career came with some bumps; she had to apply three times before getting accepted to CVM. Once in, she was one of a little over a dozen women in a class of 64. “Cornell provided me with an excellent, comprehensive education,” Manfra Marretta says. She still remembers attending a lecture by legendary faculty neurologist de Lahunta on her first day of classes. “He gave a talk on developmental anatomy and how a persistent right aortic arch was formed and diagnosed,” Manfra Marretta says. “He then challenged each one of us to make the most out of our careers.” 

Manfra Marretta’s small class was a tight knit one, resulting in long-standing relationships. “From the time of being classmates at Cornell, Sandy stood out as a dedicated, intelligent and compassionate student,” says classmate Karen Reamsnyder, D.V.M. ’77. “Her quiet demeanor did not hide her brilliant mind and caring personality.” This brilliance was noted by others, too. “I was privileged to see her initially develop her professional skills during our tenure there,” says Gary Yarnell, ’74, D.V.M. ’77. 

Fellow alumna and veterinary college housemate Ann Huntington, D.V.M.’77, vividly remembers Manfra Marretta’s academic aptitude. “There was no more prized and sought-after study guide for tests than ‘Sandy's notes,’” says Huntington. “They were amazingly complete and perfectly legible interpretation of our lectures, which she freely shared, and which helped many of us better understand difficult concepts.” 

Blazing a trail 

After graduating from CVM, Manfra Marretta went on to serve as an intern, surgery resident and staff surgeon at the Animal Medical Center in New York City – blazing a trail that was not typically taken for women at that time. “In the days that few women pursued a path in veterinary surgery, Sandra Manfra Marretta became board certified early in her career,” says Huntington. 

After she had raised her hand at the Animal Medical Center, her exploration into animal dentistry grew; Manfra Marretta became a charter diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) in 1988, and became director of oral medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center before getting recruited by the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine to teach small animal soft tissue surgery and dentistry. Later, in 2018, she became a founding Fellow of the AVDC Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and in 2019 a founding fellow of the American College of Veterinary Surgery Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, while still serving as a professor of small animal surgery and dentistry before retiring. 

In these roles, Manfra Marretta would steadily advance the field of veterinary dentistry and oral surgery through teaching, clinical research, and the publication of over 250 journal articles, chapters, abstracts and proceeding notes, including a recently co-authored landmark publication, “Day one core competencies in veterinary dentistry” in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and an online small animal dentistry course that has been used by over 30 veterinary schools around the world. “Her work has shaped how veterinary dentists perform oral surgery, bone regenerative therapy, cleft palate surgery, endodontic therapy, and how they manage maxillofacial trauma cases,” says Dr. Stephen Juriga, a clinician at the Veterinary Dental Center in Aurora, Illinois. 

A dedicated teacher 

While clearly an academic giant in her field, “Those who love her best will describe her as a dedicated teacher,” says Dr. Katie Kling of Veterinary Dental Center in Aurora, Illinois. Juriga agrees. “There have been few people in my career, and I would speculate many of her former students/residents would agree, that have been more kind and giving of their time and knowledge than Dr. Manfra.” 

“She promoted this area of specialization to the gold standard levels that exist today,” says Reamsnyder. “Along the way, she became known as the go-to specialist for her skills and willingness to teach and share her knowledge with innumerable numbers of students, interns, residents, and colleagues worldwide.” 

Manfra Marretta herself notes that of all her accomplishments, “If I had to choose one thing that I enjoyed most in my career, I would have to say teaching.” 

Advancing the profession 

Even now as an emerita professor, Manfra Marretta continues to share what she knows with others. “Few people have achieved the accomplishments Dr. Manfra has in her veterinary career, and she continues to advance the profession in spite of ‘retiring’ several years ago,” Balke says. 

This sentiment is echoed amongst other colleagues. “When you call Dr. Manfra, she will either pick up or call you back immediately and listen without judgement to the case you are facing and then provide practical input on your treatment plan with all of the wisdom of her 49 years as a veterinarian,” says Kling. 

For Manfra Maretta, it all comes back to that serendipitous moment many years ago as a young veterinarian. “To this day I am grateful that I raised my hand at that meeting,” she says. “It provided me with so many professional opportunities.” 

Written by Lauren Cahoon Roberts