Colorado State University Meat Expert and Distinguished Professor Honored by Professional Group

A respected member of Colorado State University’s animal sciences faculty has received a top honor from the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Gary Smith, Monfort Endowed Chairholder of Meat Science, earned the Distinguished Service Award, the federation’s highest honor given only to a handful of experts working in the industry. Presented only seven times in the past decade, the award recognizes ongoing support and cooperation on the part of the recipient.

Smith has conducted research on carcass evaluation and grading; composition, quality and palatability of red meat; red meat safety; and meat packaging and retailing. He recently helped develop a visual scanner-software system that judges beef with 95 percent accuracy as to its tenderness three weeks hence on the retail market. The system, BEEFCAM , is in commercial use.

Recognized as one of Colorado State’s 12 University Distinguished Professors in 1993, Smith has won a wide variety of awards and honors for his research, teaching and professional service. These include the Distinguished Research Award and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Society of Animal Science and the American Meat Science Association.

Author of 358 full-length articles in refereed scientific journals, Smith has made more than 700 other contributions as proceedings, technical reports and other presentations. He was president of the American Meat Science Association in 1976.

Before coming to Colorado State in 1990, Smith was professor and head of the animal science department at Texas A&M University, where he won the Outstanding Teaching Performance Award, the Honor Professor Award, the College of Agriculture Teaching Award, the University Distinguished Teaching Award and the Deputy Chancellor’s Award for Team Research.

Smith has served on the board of directors of Colorado Cattle Feeders Association, is an adviser to the Beef Quality Assurance Task Force of the National Cattlemen’s Association and is a member of the Food Marketing Institute/American Meat Institute Meat Marketing Conference Committee, the Scientific Advisory Board of the American Meat Institute, the National Western Stock Show Association and the Uniform Retail Meat Identity Standards Committee of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He also serves on the board of advisers for the American Council on Science and Health.

Smith is listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.