Ralph Lloyd Kitchell was born July 19,1919 in Waukee, Iowa. He received a D.V.M. (1943) from Iowa State College (University) and a Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota (1951) in Human Anatomy.

After receiving his D.V.M., Dr. Kitchell served as a major in the Veterinary Corps of the United States Army (1943-1946). He then worked for the University of Minnesota as a Research Fellow in the Diagnostic Laboratory (1946-1947), and was promoted to Instructor (1947-1951), Associate Professor (1951-1954), Professor and Head of Veterinary Anatomy (1954-1964), Assistant Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine (1960-1963), and Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine (1963-1964). He left Minnesota to become Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University (1964-1966). Kitchell returned to Iowa State as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine (1966-1971). After resigning as Dean, he continued to teach at Iowa State (1971-1972) until taking a position at University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine as Professor of Pathology and Anatomy (1972-1990).

Dr Kitchell's research interests included animal somatosensory physiology, pain perception, and taste. He published numerous articles and books, such as "Taste Reception in the Goat, Sheep and Calf" (1966) and Animal Pain : Perception and Alleviation (1983).

Dr. Kitchell received several awards and honors, including the Stange Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement (1981) and the University of California, Davis Distinguished Teaching Award (1981). He also was elected to the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Research (1961) and received an honorary D.V.M. from the Swedish Agricultural University (1987).

Dr. Kitchell passed away May 17, 1997.

The collection (1941-1997) contains reprints of published articles and biographical material. The articles focus mainly on animal somatosensory physiology, pain perception, and taste.

The collection is arranged alphabetically.