Dr. Joe P. Morgan died peacefully on May 31, 2026, in Fort Dodge, Iowa at the age of 94.
After graduating from Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1960, Dr. Morgan served as an AVMA Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1961. He received an M.S. from Colorado State University in 1962 and was an NIH Fellow at the Royal Veterinary College in Stockholm, Sweden from 1964 until 1967, where he successfully defended his Vet. Med. Dr. dissertation.
After serving at Colorado State University as an associate professor 1967 and 1968, Dr. Morgan joined the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1969 as full professor. He became professor emeritus in 1993.
Dr. Morgan continued research and education at several international institutions for over two decades, including University of Zürich, Switzerland, University of Oslo, Norway, Ross University, St. Kitts, and St. George’s University, West Indies. His research focused on skeletal diseases, with a particular interest in spinal and joint disorders. His research and scholarship are documented in over 200 publications, including 14 books, many of them based on teaching notes and clinical cases. His renowned title, “Morgan JP et al.: Techniques in Veterinary Radiography”, sold over 40,000 copies over 5 editions, and was translated into several languages. His book titled "Hereditary Bone and Joint Disease," disseminated detailed information on hip and elbow dysplasia in dogs.
Dr. Morgan was a member of the AVMA, ACVR, EAVDI, ECVDI, and IVRA. He was held in high regard by the European imaging community and named an honorary member of the ECVDI/EVDI. The society created the “Joe Morgan Award” in 2016, recognizing the best resident oral presentation at the Annual European Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Congress and honors Dr. Morgan’s outstanding contributions to resident education worldwide.
With his profound expertise in veterinary radiology, Dr. Morgan mentored and supported countless residents, radiologists and veterinarians throughout their careers. In small animal practices, his name is synonymous with the term "Morgan line" (also known as caudolateral curvilinear osteophyte, CCO) in the diagnosis of hip dysplasia in dogs.
Dr. Morgan was a true cosmopolitan who considered the whole world his home. He loved to travel and had friends all over the globe. Tolerance, openness, and international understanding were his guiding principles. Deeply rooted in the Christian faith, his open and calm nature made him easy to approach. In recent years, while still taking extended cruises through Europe with one of his daughters, his mental health gradually declined. He passed away peacefully in his nursing home shortly before his 95th birthday.
His unexpected death has deeply affected many. The veterinary radiological society has lost an international founder and promoter of veterinary radiology, as well as a longtime friend to generations of specialists of our discipline.
Mark Flückiger, Susanne Boroffka