Het koloniale verleden van de Universiteit Utrecht kent verschillende aspecten. Henk van Rinsum beschrijft de ontwikkeling van (wetenschappelijke) kennis die handelt over de kolonie, kennis die ontwikkeld is in de kolonie, kennis die bestemd is voor de kolonie en kennis die eigendom is van de kolonie. Rode draad is het idee van Westerse superioriteit op het terrein van kennisverwerving en kennisoverdracht, gebaseerd op de fundamentele tegenstelling tussen 'ontwikkeld' (dus modern) en '(nog) niet-ontwikkeld' (dus primitief of traditioneel). De universiteit raakte ook betrokken bij slavernij en de afschaffing ervan. Dit boek vormt een belangrijke bijdrage aan de intellectuele en koloniale geschiedenis

A publication by H.J. Hamburger on kidney function and metabolism in 1900 marked the first use of clinical biochemistry at the Utrecht Veterinary School. From 1907 onward the clinician J.J. Wester increasingly used clinical biochemistry for diagnostic purposes. However, initially most of the clinical biochemistry was not performed in the clinics but in the Laboratory of Medical Veterinary Chemistry by L. Seekles and his predecessor B. Sjollema. The appointment of A.J.H. Schotman in 1958 as clinical biochemist at the Large Animal Clinic and of the biochemist C.J.G. van der Horst in 1961 at the Small Animal Clinic were strong stimulants for the development of clinical biochemistry in the clinics. Improved equipment, mechanization, and automation enabled clinical biochemistry to grow considerably during the second half of the previous century. In 2003, efficiency and costs dictated the merger of the separate clinical laboratories into the University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UVDL), concentrating the clinical laboratories in a newly built facility, the Jeanette Donker-Voet Building.

Education in livestock diseases in the tropics at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University started in 1915 at the Institute for Parasitic and Infectious Diseases. Subsequently, the Institute for Tropical and Protozoon Diseases was established in 1948 and here students and veterinarians were trained in tropical animal health. Research and training were mainly focused on African livestock diseases such as tick borne diseases and trypanosomosis. Training possibilities for students included an elective course (‘Tropencursus’), membership of a debating club (‘Tropische Kring’), and a traineeship in a project in a tropical country. From 1987 onwards training, education, research, and management of international collaborative projects in tropical animal health became the shared responsibility of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology and the Office for International Cooperation. This article focuses on the last 50 years and highlights activities such as education, research, newsletters, networks, and projects with African and Asian countries.