Grinnells Animal Health Laboratories originally opened in 1950 as an animal disease research laboratory and was jointly operated by the School of Agriculture and the North Carolina Department of... Grinnells Animal Health Laboratories originally opened in 1950 as an animal disease research laboratory and was jointly operated by the School of Agriculture and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. After additions in 1959 and 1967, it was renamed in 1972 after Claude Delbert Grinnells. For much of his 33-year tenure at NC State, Grinnell was the only veterinarian on faculty. He was president of the NC Veterinary Medical Association and was named NC Veterinarian of the Year in 1956.