Larry Benyshek

The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) honored Dr. Larry Benyshek with the Pioneer Award at the thirty-third Annual Convention on July 13, 2001 in San Antonio, Texas. The purpose of this award is to recognize individuals who have made lasting contributions to the genetic improvement of beef cattle.

Larry Benyshek was born February 26, 1947 in Concordia, Kansas and grew up on a livestock and grain farm. He received his B.S. Degree from Kansas State University in 1969 and completed his M.S. and Ph.D. Degrees in Animal Breeding at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1971 and 1973, respectively. Upon graduation he joined the staff of the North American Limousin Foundation as Director of Research and Education. He became a faculty member at Fort Hayes State College (Kansas) in 1974, and in 1976, he was appointed to the faculty at the University of Georgia with teaching and research responsibilities in Animal Breeding. In 1993, he was appointed Head of the Animal and Dairy Science Department at the University of Georgia.

From 1975 to 1983, along with his colleagues and graduate students, he conducted research to refine the use of sire models in across-herd evaluation of beef cattle. In 1984, the group applied a sire-dam model with numerator relationship to beef cattle field records. The experience led to the application in 1985 of reduced animal models to Limousin and Brangus field data, the first application in the United States of this model using large datasets of beef cattle field records. In 1994 the Group provided the first joint Canada-U.S. genetic evaluation with the application of multi-trait animal models to Hereford performance records in both countries. Since 1976, the Animal Breeding Group at the University of Georgia has developed genetic evaluation procedures and provided genetic values (EPDs) on millions of cattle from 17 different breeds in Argentina, Canada, Uruguay and the United States.

Dr. Benyshek has written numerous articles and made countless presentations both nationally and internationally on genetic evaluation procedures and the use of EPDs. Larry Benyshek did not coin the term AExpected Progeny Difference@, but few will argue that anyone has done more than he to spread the AEPD Concept@ and to put this technology into the hands of the U.S. producers.

Dr. Benyshek has received BIF’s Continuing Service Award and in 1994, he was recipient of the American Society of Animal Science Rockefeller Prentice Memorial Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics. His family includes wife Ruthann; daughters, Tasha and Kelly; a son, James; and one granddaughter, Elizabeth.