The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) honored two individuals in the animal science field last week at the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS)–Canadian Society of Animal Science annual meeting in Austin, Texas. Robert Goodband, Ph.D., of Kansas State University (KSU), received the AFIA-ASAS Non-Ruminant Animal Nutrition Research Award, and Kendall Swanson, Ph.D., of North Dakota State University (NDSU), received the AFIA-ASAS Ruminant Animal Nutrition Research Award.
“These gentlemen have invested years and years of time and research into the livestock industry, and the industry is better for it,” said Paul Davis, Ph.D., AFIA’s director of quality, animal food safety and education. “AFIA is honored to present them with these awards.”
Non-ruminant Animal Nutrition Research Award
Goodband is a swine nutritionist at KSU and has played an important role in developing an intensive on-farm research program, which has conducted numerous on-farm trials across the United States.
Goodband also teaches swine science and nutrition courses and serves as an academic advisor to around 45 undergraduate students each year. He has served as the major professor for 22 master’s and doctorate degree students and on committees of an additional 113 students. His work has resulted in 310 refereed journal papers, six book chapters, over 1,000 research reports and extension publications, eight patents and $13.9 million in grants and gifts to KSU.
Originally from Walpole, Mass., Goodband graduated with a bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 1984. He obtained his master’s and doctorate degrees in swine nutrition at KSU and joined the university’s faculty in 1989.
He enjoys spending time with his wife Dani and son Brady on their small farm outside of Randolph, Kan.
Ruminant Animal Nutrition Research Award
Swanson is a professor in NDSU’s Department of Animal Sciences. His research has focused on nutritional influences on performance, nutrient balance, post-ruminal starch digestion, pancreatic function, and energy and nitrogen metabolism in beef cattle.
He also teaches courses in nutrition and physiology and has advised 50 students and staff. Swanson’s work has cumulated 312 publications and $5.7 million in grant funds.
Hailing from a farm in southeastern North Dakota, Swanson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NDSU and received his doctorate degree from the University of Kentucky. He also gained experience in animal science as a research associate at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Meat Animal Research Center and as a faculty member at the University of Guelph in Canada.