Dr. Kitchen, who held both the DVD from the University of California at Davis and the PhD in biochemistry from the University of Florida, joined the faculty of UT’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1974, after having taught at the University of Florida and the University of Michigan. From 1974 to 1980, he was head of the Department of Environmental Practice. He was named dean of the college on February 8, 1980, a position he held when he was murdered in the driveway of his home exactly 10 years later, on February 8, 1990. (No one has been charged in that murder; an early theory was that animal rights extremists had devised a plan to kill one veterinary medicine dean a month for 12 months, but no other deans were killed.)
His field of research was comparative hematology. He was considered a leading authority on the comparative structure and function of hemoglobins of domestic and wild animal species and was the author or coauthor of over 50 scientific papers published in professional journals. He was also instrumental in organizing a Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee (H.A.B.I.T.) program and was nationally known for his ideas on the ethical use of animals in teaching and research. In 1979 he received the Tennessee Veterinary Medical Association Faculty Award, and in 1982 he was named a Chancellor’s Research Scholar. His alma mater, the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, awarded him its Alumni Achievement Award—posthumously.
A plaque affixed to a rock in front of the Veterinary Medical Complex reads, “In Memorium / Hyram Kitchen DVM, Ph.D. / Dean 1980-1990.” A granite ground marker in front of the Veterinary Medicine Complex between the parking lot and Joe Johnson drive marks a tree planted in memory of Kitchen. Its granite ground marker says, “In memory of / Dr. Hyram Kitchen / 1990.” His contributions to the intellectual life of the university have additionally been recognized by placement of a plaque in his honor on a faculty study.