Dr. Taft earned his V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where he was a small animal and large animal major. He furthered his interests in ophthalmology, small animal internal medicine and equine medicine and surgery via externships at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 

Immediately before veterinary medical school, Dr. Taft was an animal keeper in the Elephant House at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. In addition, for several years, he was a volunteer at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Va.

 

After he earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia, Dr. Taft worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. While at the Fed, he studied graduate-level economics at Johns Hopkins University.