DOCTOR John Craven, a former Euroa and Terip Terip resident, was recognised as an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia as part of last month's Australia Day recognitions.

Dr Craven, now based in Melbourne, received the honour for his "distinguished service to food biosecurity and environmental safety, to veterinary science research, and to the dairy industry."

He has performed various roles in the Australian Agricultural and Food Standards industries throughout his career, including being a director of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority from 2011 to 2016.

Dr Craven explained why he believed he was recognised, discussing some of the significant accomplishments from his storied career.

"The main thing for me was that I had a long research career, primarily looking at the transmission of diseases between animals and humans," he said.

"Then I worked for the dairy industry for a number of years.

"It was around the same time that the industry really began investing money into research.

"I was involved in helping set the agenda for the research and development program for the dairy industry.

"I suppose the most important thing I did, in my opinion, was chairing a committee that was responsible for accrediting veterinary schools.

"We worked with other countries like the US, UK and more in Europe to set up mutual recognition of the accreditation in each country.

"It was often difficult because they all wanted to do things their own way."

Dr Craven said seeing his name as part of the Australia Day honours was a proud moment and described some of the process behind receiving the recognition.

"My belief is the process took quite a number of years," he said.

"We had an indication last year that this might be possible.

"It was a nice feeling to see it on the day (January 26) and that it was all fair dinkum.

"It's nice to get recognised by your colleagues, all of it was quite exciting."

The local area still means a lot to Dr Craven, who still ventures back to the region when he gets the opportunity.

"I started in Euroa a very long time ago," he said.

"We lived in Terip for a number of years, my family first settling there in the 1880s.

"I had some quite amazing teachers in Euroa that in retrospect I think helped me decide what I'd do in the future.

"I've still got a lot of connections and will always keep coming back to the area."