A busy man on the go, Leland Shapiro, chair of the Agriculture Department and director of the Pre-Veterinary Program at Los Angeles Pierce College, does not appear to have been slowed down by two brain surgeries, the second one only two months ago. He is teaching several classes including anatomy, physiology and nutrition and has taught 35 different classes during his long tenure with Pierce.
Growing up in South Los Angeles, Shapiro was inspired by his grandfather’s work at a dairy farm in the Watts neighborhood. At the time, Los Angeles County was the countries top agricultural producer. His grandfather worked as a farmhand.
“I wanted to learn what my grandfather did and I fell in love with a cow,” he says. “Cows are easy to fall in love with because they’re creatures of habit: they treat you the way you treat them. The kinder you are to them, the more milk they give you. And you make more money.”
As a student at Pierce, Shapiro was an animal science pre-veterinary major before he moved on to California Polytechnic University, where he ended up switching to a dairy science major before returning to Pierce in 1976.
He told the dairy herdsman on campus he’d like to learn how to milk cows because his grandfather used to do it. The herdsman agreed and told Shapiro to report back at 3:15 the next morning.
“And I fell in love with it,” he says.
Shapiro also loves teaching. With the pride of a father, he said that 214 of his students have become veterinarians. He has pictures of several of them covering the walls of his office.
One student in particular has a special story. William emigrated from El Salvador and believed that the U.S. government had given him more than his own government, so he joined the Marines. He did two tours (one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan) and brought back an American flag from Camp Fallujah for Shapiro. William had gone with two other Pierce students but “one came back in a bag.”
“He knew that that flag would be meaningful to me,” Shapiro said.
With the chest-swelling satisfaction of seeing his student do well and knowing some of the challenges he has faced, Shapiro said that William is applying to veterinary school this year and added that he will write the best (recommendation) letter he’s ever written.
“He is an American citizen and he gave back twice,” he says. “I love the guy, like he’s my own kid.”
Shapiro’s students come from all over the world, including Guatemala, Spain, France, Ireland and China. He boasts that Pierce’s farm makes the school unique and attracts students who are interested in agriculture and veterinary science.
“As a teacher, the best reward for me, one day, is to be able to introduce a former student as a doctor,” he says.
