Colorado State University’s Temple Grandin on Time Magazine’s Most Influential List

Colorado State University professor Temple Grandin has been included on Time Magazine’s list of the most influential people of 2010. The magazine unveiled its list of the 100 most influential people today.

Grandin garnered more than 15,000 votes in public online voting. She ranked No. 31 on Time’s list. The full list will appear in the May 10 issue of Time, available on newsstands on Friday, April 30, and now available at www.time.com.

The list, now in its seventh year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals.

“The Time 100 is not a list of the most powerful people in the world, it’s not a list of the smartest people in the world, it’s a list of the most influential people in the world,” said Managing Editor Rick Stengel. “They’re scientists, they’re thinkers, they’re philosophers, they’re leaders, they’re icons, they’re artists, they’re visionaries – people who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.”

A professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University and president of Grandin Livestock Handling Systems Inc., Grandin’s exposure and popularity spiked this year with the February release of the HBO biopic, "Temple Grandin." The story introduced her for the first time to many people.

As a child, Grandin was diagnosed with autism, and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. But Grandin, who once described her condition as making her "like an animal with no instincts to guide me," used that perspective to become one of the world’s most respected advocates for the humane treatment of livestock.

Grandin earned her doctorate and became an author, writing books about animals – “Animals in Translation” and “Animals Make Us Human” and about autism – “The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Aspergers.”

This is Colorado State University’s second major honor from Time magazine in the past year. In 2009, Time honored Envirofit International founders, Tim Bauer and Nathan Lorenz, both alumni from Colorado State’s College of Engineering, as "Heroes of the Environment" for their role in developing what Time calls "stoves that save lives."
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