Duc Dac Vuong was born in Sontay, Vietnam on February 2, 1943. He completed high school in Gia Dinh, Vietnam, July 1964, and was awarded his Bachelors Degree as an Engineer of Animal Husbandry, Saigon, Vietnam, September 1968. Affectionately known as Dr. Duc by his colleagues, he obtained his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the State University of Liege, Brussels, Belgium, on July 4, 1974.

After immigrating to the United States, Duc began his 37-year career with the Arkansas Department of Health on April 26, 1976. During the last 25 years of his career Duc worked in the ADH Rabies Laboratory. During that time he processed and retained over 3,000 bat specimens until positively identified by a trained bat biologist. This treasure trove of species has provided important biological, distribution, occurrence, natural history and rabies information for Arkansas. These data have been particularly important in our understanding of tree bats because of their solitary nature and well-hidden roost locations that make acquiring information on juveniles difficult. Tree-bat data, particularly on the common and wide spread red bat, have been of special interest because it tests positive for rabies more frequently than any other bat species submitted. Additionally, these data have helped us establish some baselines to which future frequency of submissions can be compared. These comparisons may help us monitor the decline or recovery of species from environmental challenges, such as habitat loss, or diseases such as White Nose Syndrome. Dr. Voung has helped facilitate the acquisition of these important data by saving the specimens, providing location information, and assisting at identification sessions.

SBDN values and appreciates Dr. Vuong’s effort and cooperative spirit and recognizes how important he, and the Arkansas Department of Health Rabies Lab, have been to bat conservation and biology in Arkansas with implications for the entire southeastern U.S.

This Special Service Award was presented on behalf of Dr. Joy O’Keefe, President of the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, and SBDN’s membership. Little Rock, Arkansas. May 16, 2013.