Jena West has earned much-deserved recognition following decades of leadership and excellence in veterinary medicine.
A licensed veterinary medical technician and Master of Public Health graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, West was recently honored with the 2026 Randy Evans Veterinary Medical Technology Merit Award from Lincoln Memorial University's Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine. The award, established in 2024, recognizes outstanding professional achievements by graduates of the university's Veterinary Medical Technology program, and West's career has no shortage of them.
West began at Lincoln Memorial University in 1995 on both cheerleading and academic scholarships, earning her degree in veterinary technology. She later added a bachelor's degree in psychology and her Master of Public Health with a concentration in veterinary medicine from UT Knoxville. She has worked at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine for more than 19 years.
In 2019, she became the first Veterinary Technician Specialist in Cardiology in the state of Tennessee, a milestone that speaks to both her expertise and pioneering spirit.
While the award reflects West's clinical and academic accomplishments, her professional footprint extends well beyond the exam room.
Her leadership résumé spans decades, including serving as president and treasurer of the Tennessee Veterinary Technicians Association, membership on the UT College of Veterinary Medicine's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and Career Advancement Committee, and as Member-at-Large with the Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians (AIMVT), the organization responsible for certifying veterinary technician specialists in internal medicine fields, including cardiology.
That sustained commitment to the profession, through service, scholarship, and leadership roles at every level, is what the Randy Evans award was designed to honor.
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West sees leadership as a multivariate skill, one with many purposes and possibilities. And she understands the importance of it, how leadership has the ability to change a person, a team, or an organization for the better.
That mindset shapes how West defines leadership itself: as something that carries real weight and demands care.
"Leadership can be supportive and empathetic or direct and results-focused," she says. "It's up to the individual to utilize their skills to achieve the outcome they most desire."
She understands the delicate nature of it, how leading others comes with immense responsibility.
"It is very important to remember that leadership is something that one must take seriously," she says, "because it can alter things drastically towards good or bad."
When it comes to advice that shaped her own trajectory, West points to a hard-won lesson to a challenge many face.
"To get out of my own way," she says.
It's the kind of guidance that sounds straightforward, but is always worth the reminder. We can be our own worst enemies. For West, moving forward in her field meant trusting the work, leaning on the community around her, and letting momentum do its job. The NSLS reinforced that sense of connection to a broader network of peers.
"The NSLS gave me access to other great leaders," she says, something she believes helped guide her own growth by being able to see leadership in action.
Looking ahead, West has her sights set on pursuing a PhD, continuing a decades-long commitment to learning that has defined every chapter of her career.
West's advice echoes the same simplicity of trusting the work and not getting in your own way. She advises any potential leader to resist the urge to build everything from the ground up, and instead treat the work of those who came before as a foundation worth standing on.
"Don't reinvent the wheel," she says. "Great leaders have come and gone. Use their achievements and hard work as stepping stones to your leadership goals."
That philosophy informed her own growth, from her early days at Lincoln Memorial to becoming a statewide first in her specialty to the work she continues today.
Earning high honors and top awards are results of hard work and dedication. Meet Lidia Khayrulina next, Valedictorian of her class, named to the All-State Academic Team, and a New Jersey Student of the Year nominee.