Dr. Shearer received his Bachelor’s degree from Ashland University in 1971, and his veterinary degree from The Ohio State University in 1975. He served a little over 4 years in a mixed animal veterinary practice in Orrville, Ohio before returning to The Ohio State University to pursue graduate studies in nutrition. He received a Master of Science degree and became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at Ohio State University before moving on to the University of Florida in 1982, a position he held until 2009 before accepting his current position at Iowa State University.

Dr. Shearer is Professor Emeritus from the University of Florida where he served as Extension Veterinarian for the majority of his career. During his time in Florida, he established the Master Hoof Care Program, a training program designed to teach on-farm employees how to properly care for foot problems in cattle. This program acquired national and international attention for its impact on foot health in dairy cattle and was fittingly recognized by the USDA Secretary of Agriculture in 2003 with the Honor Award for outstanding innovation in animal health. Dr. Shearer is currently Professor and Extension Veterinarian at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine where his primary areas of research interest are lameness and welfare issues of beef and dairy cattle. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare and serves as a board member and scientific advisor to multiple organizations and dairy operations. He is a previous Chair of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Bovine Lameness Committee (2001-2004) and AABP Animal Welfare Committee from 2004 to 2010 and was appointed the AABPs Alternate Liaison to AVMA Animal Welfare Committee in 2012.  He currently Chairs the Food Animal Working Groups (FAWG) of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Panel on Euthanasia and the AVMA’s Panel on Humane Slaughter, and serves as a member of the AVMA’s Panel on Mass Depopulation.  Dr. Shearer has been honored by the University of Florida with the Superior Accomplishment Award (2001), by The Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine with the Distinguished Alumnus Award (2006), by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners with the Award of Excellence (2006), by the AVMA in 2011 as recipient of the AVMA Animal Welfare Award, and in 2015 with the Delaval Dairy Extension Award.