Gary Smith returns to Colorado State University as special advisor, visiting professor

Gary Smith, an internationally recognized meat science and food safety expert, has returned to Colorado State University to serve as a visiting professor of animal sciences and special advisor to the president. He started July 1.

Smith served on the CSU Animal Sciences faculty as the Ken and Myra Monfort Endowed Chair from 1990 to 2010. He is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

In this new role, Smith will return to mentoring graduate students, assist in the planning and development of a new annual lecture series to be sponsored by the Department of Animal Sciences, and help to teach Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Systems and Global Food Safety Initiative classes to students and others. As an advisor to CSU President Tony Frank, Smith will provide guidance on initiatives related to livestock and meat production; animal sciences; and food safety, security and quality.

“Agriculture is a pillar of Colorado’s economy, and Gary’s deep understanding of the industry is unparalleled,” Frank said. “As our world seeks ways to feed its growing population, food safety, security, and quality will continue to be burgeoning issues that can be better understood and addressed through research and discovery from land-grant universities like Colorado State. Gary’s input will provide valuable insight to Colorado State’s respected programs.”

Throughout his career, Smith conducted applied research and solved problems related to food safety and meat science on behalf of state and federal agencies such as the USDA and FDA; associations (National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, American Hereford Association, National Pork Board, American Meat Institute Foundation); private industry (Harris Ranch Beef Company, JBS, Cargill Meat Solutions, Tyson Foods); and international organizations representing countries such as Australia, Uruguay, Japan, and the European Union. He also served on several National Academy of Science panels addressing pressing issues.

Smith was author or co-author of 515 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and has to his credit more than 1,300 additional publications. He has received 48 prestigious awards, including distinguished research and teaching awards from the American Meat Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science, The E. Floyd Forbes Award from the National Meat Association (now the North American Meat Association), the Signal Service and R. C. Pollock Awards from the American Meat Science Association, and the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Meat Export Federation. He was identified by Beef Magazine as one of “The Top 40” individuals having an impact on the beef industry and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 2009.

The CSU Department of Animal Sciences is currently completing the first phase of a capital campaign that will result in a newly renovated Animal Sciences Building. A second phase of the campaign will consist of new construction named for Smith and his wife, Kay. The Gary and Kay Smith Global Food Innovation Center will feature a complete livestock, poultry and meat processing center spanning harvesting and all processing; a fully equipped livestock arena; Temple Grandin-designed livestock handling and teaching areas; a culinary research and sensory analysis facility; an auditorium lecture hall and meat demonstration classroom; and a retail meat and dairy store and café.

For more information about this fundraising effort, contact the CSU Department of Animal Sciences at http://ansci.agsci.colostate.edu/ or (970) 491-7686.

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