FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For a high-resolution photo of the winner, click here (will activate link when photo is available).
For more information contact:
Joe Cassady, executive director, Beef Improvement Federation, North Carolina State University; 919-513-0262; www.BIFconference.com; www.beefimprovement.org
Donald Franke Honored
with
BIF Pioneer Award
HOUSTON, Texas. (April 19, 2012) — The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) honored Donald E. Franke with the Pioneer Award during the organization's 44th annual meeting and research symposium in Houston, Texas, April 18-21. The award recognizes individuals who have made lasting contributions to the improvement of beef cattle, honoring those who have had a major role in acceptance of performance reporting and documentation as the primary means to make genetic change in beef cattle.
Dr. Franke was born in 1937 and raised on a livestock farm in Shelby County, Texas. He obtained a bachelor's degree in animal science and vocational education at Stephen F. Austin State University in 1961 and taught vocational agriculture for three years. He obtained a master's degree and a doctoral degree from Louisiana State University (1965) and Texas A&M University (1968), respectively, in the area of animal breeding and genetics.
In 1968, Dr. Franke was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Florida. He was promoted to associate professor in 1974. Dr. Franke taught undergraduate and graduate courses in animal breeding and genetics, and directed graduate students. His Florida research involved milk yield of Angus and Hereford cattle; the inheritance of sheath area in Brahman cattle; the investigation of gene frequency for a spotted color pattern in Herefords at the USDA Agricultural Research Service SubTropical Research Station (STARS), Brooksville, Fla.; and weak calf syndrome in Brahman cattle.
In 1976, Dr. Franke joined the LSU Department of Animal Science as associate professor. He was promoted to professor in 1978 and was named to an endowed professorship in 2001. His initial LSU research involved preweaning, carcass and reproductive traits in two-, three- and four-breed rotational crossbreeding systems with Angus, Brahman, Charolais and Hereford cattle. He published results on estimation of genetic parameters for growth, carcass and tenderness traits in Brahman steers and validation of maternal expected progeny differences (EPDs) in Angus and Hereford cattle.
He directed 32 master's and 16 doctoral students and authored or co-authored 46 journal articles. He served as secretary, president-elect and president of the Southern Section of the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and received the Rockefeller Prentice Memorial Award in Breeding and Genetics from ASAS in 2002.
Dr. Franke retired from the LSU School of Animal Sciences in August 2008, after 40 years in higher education.
He was presented the BIF Pioneer Award at a luncheon Thursday, April 19, in Houston.
For more information about this year's symposium, including additional award winners and coverage of the meeting and tours, visit www.BIFconference.com. For more information about the BIF organization, visit www.beefimprovement.org.
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Editor's Note: This article is provided as a news release by the Beef Improvement Federation. For a high-resolution photo of the winner, additional award announcements and coverage of the meeting, visit the Awards page at www.BIFconference.com.
The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) was formed more than 40 years ago as a means to standardize beef cattle performance programs and methodologies and to create greater awareness, acceptance and usage of these concepts of genetic improvement. BIF represents more than 40 state and national beef cattle associations. For more details about the BIF organization, contact Executive Director Joe Cassady at 919-513-0262.
