James R. Rooney, 80, veterinary professor

James R. Rooney, 80, a former pathology professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, died of complications from lung and bladder cancer Sept. 5 at his home in Chestertown, Md.

Mr. Rooney was professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky, where he taught until he retired in 1989. From 1987 to '89, he was both head of the university's department of veterinary science and director of its Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center.

David Powell, a colleague at Gluck, said last week that Mr. Rooney "was one of the few people to devote his professional career to undertaking postmortems. He developed both a national and international reputation as an equine pathologist."

A University of Kentucky spokesman said that Mr. Rooney taught at its veterinary school from 1961 to 1968, taught at Penn from 1968 to 1976, and returned to teach at Kentucky in 1983.

From 1976 to 1983, the spokesman said, Mr. Rooney was a pathologist for ICI Americas Inc., a chemicals manufacturer in Wilmington.

A 1949 graduate of Dartmouth College, he was a 1952 graduate of the New York Veterinary College at Cornell University, and earned his master's at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1955, his son, Alec, said.

Mr. Rooney spent a fellowship year in 1957 at the Royal Veterinary College in Stockholm.

The first of his seven books,

Autopsy of the Horse

, was published during his third year of veterinary school, his son said and, revised as

Rooney's Guide

, is still used at universities.

Another work,

The Lame Horse

, published in 1974 and revised in 1998, was also printed in Germany and Japan.

He was a guest lecturer for such organizations as the British Equine Veterinary Association, and spoke in England, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

In 1983, the Tierklinik-Hochmoor, a clinic for large and small house animals near Essen, Germany, gave him an award.

At Dartmouth, his son said, Mr. Rooney majored in English drama, and while living and working in Pennsylvania and Delaware, he acted in and directed amateur and professional productions.

In 1998, for instance, he directed a performance of Marlowe's

Dr. Faustus

for the Radnor Actors Workshop at Radnor High School. He was also a published-and-performed playwright.

Besides his son, Mr. Rooney is survived by his wife, Audrey; daughter, Melinda Florsheim; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for an undetermined date in November.