Larry L. Borchert of Madison, Howard W. Bremer of Madison, John E. Gherty of White Bear Lake, Minn., John J. Hansen of Onalaska, and Bernie L. Staller of Zionsville, Ind. will receive Honorary Recognition awards Oct. 26 from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The awards will be presented at a banquet in the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus. Also at the banquet, Robert Bray, professor emeritus of meat and animal science at the UW-Madison, will receive the CALS Distinguished Service Award.

Honorary Recognition, the highest honor bestowed by the College, recognizes people who have made outstanding contributions toward the development of agriculture, protection of natural resources, and improvement of rural living. Since 1909, the College has honored more than 400 people with these awards. For information on attending the banquet, please call CALS Outreach Services, (608) 263-1672.

Bob Bray CALS Distinguished Service Award 2000
More than 100 photos of faculty, students and visiting scientists line two walls of the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Bob Bray”s picture is the very first one; a fitting place for the man who pioneered meat science instruction and research on the Madison campus. In recognition of his 60 years of service, Bray will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the UW-Madison”s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

A native of Dodgeville, Wis., Bray was appointed the first meat-science instructor at the UW-Madison”s Department of Animal Husbandry in 1941. Following U.S. Navy service from 1943 to 1946, he returned to Madison, earning his doctorate and joining the faculty in 1949.

Bray developed a number of meat science courses in the 1940 and 1950s. Starting out as a “department of one,” he began a research program focusing on meat quality improvement and carcass composition and value. Research space was scarce in the years following World War II, so Bray set up makeshift laboratories on the top floor of the Stock Pavilion, and lectured in a wooden shed with no temperature controls (informally known as Bray Hall). By 1960, a research lab and lecture room were added to the Meat Laboratory.

In addition to his work at the meat science/muscle biology lab, Bray taught introductory and advanced courses for undergrads and short-course students, along with Extension programs for live-animal and carcass evaluation. He also coached the College meat-judging teams for many years. Bray received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the American Society of Animal Science in 1966.

He chaired the Department of Meat and Animal Science from 1963 to 1966, when he was named assistant dean and director of the College. Bray was promoted to associate dean and director in 1967, a position he held until his retirement in 1984.

Working with the Meat Processors Association of Wisconsin, he helped to set up the first statewide meat product show at Eau Claire in 1951. To help demonstrate for producers how carcass composition influenced value, Bray initiated carcass competitions at state livestock shows. In 1952 he was appointed superintendent of the Carcass Shows at the International Livestock Exhibition in Chicago.

Bray served as the first president of the American Meat Science Association, and was the first recipient of its highest honor, the R.C. Pollock Award. He has been active in the American Society of Animal Science and the Institute of Food Technologists, along with many other professional and service organizations.

Bray has made good on his retirement vow to “fish more, golf more, hunt more and ski just as much,” but he has also remained active in the department and Wisconsin”s meat industry. From 1984 to 1998, he edited the newsletter of the Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors, an organization he helped organize in the 1950s. Bray was instrumental in establishing the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame in 1993 (and, over his personal objection, was elected to the Hall by the 10-member selection committee in 1994). He and his wife, Kathryn, endowed a graduate fellowship in meat science in 1999.

Larry Borchert Honorary Recognition
Throughout his career as a research scientist and executive at Oscar Mayer Foods, Larry Borchert has been a tremendous asset to the meat and poultry industry and a loyal supporter of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His contributions to the industry and the University have earned him a CALS Honorary Recognition Award for 2000.

Borchert began his career at Oscar Mayer Foods while still an undergraduate, working as a lab technician and product inspector. After earning his doctorate in Meat Science and Food Science from the College, he served as manager of applied research, product development supervisor, and senior research scientist at Oscar Mayer. In 1980 he was named Director of Central Research and Regulatory Affairs, the post he held until his retirement in 1996.

As director, he was responsible for corporate research in microbiology, food safety, analytical chemistry, sensory evaluation, nutrition, food chemistry, and meat quality. Borchert oversaw significant developments in nutritional labeling, nitrite safety in cured meats, and discovery of lactate salts as anti-botulinal agents.

During his career at Oscar Mayer, Borchert held several leadership roles in the area of food safety, chairing the Nitrite Issues Committee of the American Meat Institute and serving as corporate representative to the institute”s Scientific Advisory Committee.

Borchert has been active in industry groups throughout his career, serving as president of the American Meat Science Association and director of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. He chaired the Wisconsin section of the Institute of Food Technologists, and served on the advisory board of the UW-Madison”s Food Research Institute. He also serves on the meat research advisory panels of the National Cattlemen”s Association and the National Pork Producers Association.

Since his retirement from Oscar Mayer, Borchert has volunteered in the teaching and research programs of the College”s Meat Science and Muscle Biology lab. As an adjunct professor, he has taught in several animal sciences classes, and has taken the lead role in teaching Animal Science 515, Commercial Meat Processing. Borchert has also developed a specialized processed meats short course in conjunction with Oscar Mayer to provide advanced training to production supervisors.

While at Oscar Mayer, Borchert maintained a strong working relationship with the College, and made student access to corporate resources a priority, . Lab facilities and equipment at the Madison plant were state of the art, and the plant served as a classroom for many of the Department of Animal Sciences” instructional activities.

Howard W. Bremer Honorary Recognition 2000

Few individuals have had as profound an impact on the UW-Madison, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and those they serve as Howard W. Bremer. Yet Bremer”s contributions aren”t well known, even on campus.

From 1960 to 1988, Bremer was patent counsel for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the non-profit organization that commercializes scientific discoveries from the UW-Madison. At WARF, Bremer”s efforts led directly to a new federal law governing the ownership of intellectual property. The law, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, gave universities — rather than federal agencies — control over discoveries made from government-funded research.

Bayh-Dole greatly accelerated the transfer of scientific discoveries to private industry where those ideas could become products and services. Many feel the legislation is central to the strong economy we have enjoyed for the past decade. This year, the College will present Bremer an Honorary Recognition award for his unselfish service in making the University and Wisconsin a better place.

“Howard is truly a legend for the major role he has played in facilitating effective technology transfer for universities,” says Virginia Hinshaw, dean of the Graduate School and senior research officer for the UW-Madison. “His leadership and ideas were the driving force behind the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act. The law has had a tremendously positive impact on the movement of research results from universities to the private sector.”

Begun in 1925, WARF prospered before federal research dollars became widely available, largely on patents that originated in the College. But in the 1960s the rapid growth of federally funded research combined with government control of discoveries from that research virtually dried up new patents at WARF.

“When Howard Bremer negotiated our initial vitamin D patent, it was the first one at the UW-Madison in 15 years,” says biochemist Hector DeLuca. The patent soon was licensed to U.S. and French companies.

Bremer then negotiated new patent agreements between the UW-Madison and the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. The Bayh-Dole Act incorporated both the framework and language of those agreements.

Bayh-Dole also resulted in greater income from patent royalties both for universities and other non-profit organizations. At the UW-Madison, that money supports promising research, rewards outstanding faculty achievements, and contributes to facilities, such as the new Biochemistry Building.

Last year, for example, WARF gave almost $20 million to the Graduate School. In the College, 16 professors from 11 departments received competitive research grants from the Graduate School. Their research may lead to:

* better treatments for people who have had their bowel removed,
* an explanation of the role pollutants play in declining frog populations,
* new corn plants that convert natural resources into grain more efficiently, and
* an understanding of the relationship between farmland ownership and political activity among African-Americans in the South.

Bremer is a national leader in technology transfer from universities. He has represented the broad university community to the federal government with regard to patent law and regulation. He has provided convincing testimony to Congress and the legal establishment about the significant role that university research, teaching and public service play in the United States. And Bremer is a founding member of what is now the Association of University Technology Managers, a group that now has more than 2,000 members.

Bremer has served on many national and international commissions concerning patent law and technology transfer. He has lectured worldwide on technology transfer and is often sought out as a professional witness for nationally prominent legal issues involving patenting and licensing.

After earning a bachelor”s in chemical engineering in 1944, Bremer served two years in the U.S. Navy before returning to the UW-Madison and receiving his law degree in 1949. He spent 11 years as patent attorney for The Procter and Gamble Co. before joining WARF. Bremer lives in Madison where he and his wife of more than 50 years, Caryl, have raised five children. He continues to work as a consultant to WARF and also serves Edgewood High School and his church.

John E. (Jack) Gherty Honorary Recognition 2000
John E. (Jack) Gherty, president and CEO of Land O” Lakes, Inc., has devoted 30 years to helping more than a million and a half American farmers get a fair return on their products.

Gherty is a nationally recognized pioneer of the modern-day cooperative. He helped improve and expand the role of dairy and farm-supply cooperatives not only in Wisconsin and Minnesota but nationally. He helped build one of the largest and most influential dairy and farm supply cooperatives in the nation.

His efforts to strengthen cooperatives, which serve as an important link between agricultural producers and consumers, have earned Gherty the Honorary Recognition Award from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Gherty”s influence reaches beyond the Midwest. “His commitment to agriculture, combined with his leadership and clear vision for what people could accomplish by working together, have created a national cooperative system,” says Terry Nagle, Land O” Lakes director of communications.

Throughout his career with Land O” Lakes, Gherty has worked tirelessly to protect the public policy environment in which farmer-owned cooperatives operate, in order to ensure their ability to serve the economic interests of their farmer-owners. Gherty”s work has benefited not only Land O” Lakes members, but farmer cooperatives nationwide.

Gherty”s lifelong desire to improve peoples” lives has led him to notable accomplishments and positions of influence. He sits on the board of directors of several national organizations, including CF Industries, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and the National 4-H Council, and he chairs the Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

However, he has never forgotten his roots. He grew up on a dairy farm in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and served as president of his 4-H Club. Upon becoming president and CEO of Land O” Lakes in 1989, Gherty said, “Sometimes people higher up have to remind themselves that someone who is a janitor is just as important.”

Gherty earned business and law degrees from the UW-Madison before joining Land O” Lakes in 1970 as an attorney. He has earned the admiration of his colleagues for his commitment to the cooperative way of life.

“Through his effective leadership, motivation and organizational skill he melded the competing Land O” Lakes, CENEX, and former Midland Cooperatives into an outstanding cooperative system bringing new efficient services, markets and profitability to producer members in Wisconsin,” says Dick Vilstrup, a UW-Madison professor emeritus.

“The dairy industry in Wisconsin would not be the same if it were not for Jack”s leadership of Land O” Lakes during the past three decades,” adds Jerome Kozak, chief executive officer of the National Milk Producers Federation.

Gherty is a strong supporter of education and Extension, and has participated in numerous leadership training seminars in the state. He initiated and provided substantial financial support for the joint CALS/UW Business School Agribusiness programs, and has encouraged recruitment of CALS graduates into his organization. He formed the Land O” Lakes Foundation, which provides funds for youth scholarships and supports local 4-H and FFA chapters.

John Hansen Honorary Recognition 2000
If you”ve stopped at a Kwik Trip recently for gas or milk, you”re not alone. The stores receive more than 100,000,000 customer visits a year. That”s not a bad customer base for a man who didn”t want to take business courses in college. Fortunately, John Hansen listened to his advisor. Hansen built a chain of more than 300 convenience stores in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and also found time to serve as a board member and president of the Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association and as a member and chairman of the board of visitors of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Hansen”s longstanding support of the College and his leadership in the dairy processing and merchandising industry have earned him a CALS Honorary Recognition Award for 2000.

Hansen grew up on a dairy farm near Bangor, Wis., and graduated from the College with a degree in Meat and Animal Science.

“I enrolled in the UW-Madison Meat and Animal Science course and had Dr. Robert Bray as an advisor,” Hansen reminisced. “He insisted that I take some business courses. As a farm boy, I was really not excited about that. I took his advice and, as always, my advisor was a lot wiser than I was. The courses that he insisted that I take have served me well over the years.”

He opened the first Kwik Trip store in Eau Claire in 1965. When he sold the business recently, Kwik Trip, Inc. numbered more than 330 stores, including convenience stores, travel centers and restaurants along with a distribution center, transport company, bakery, ice plant, commissary, and dairy plant. The company entered the dairy business in 1981, leasing a dairy plant in Minnesota and later buying facilities in Wisconsin, where “milk in a bag” was born. The Kwik Trip Dairy bottles milk, juices, fruit drinks and water, and manufactures a variety of premium ice cream.

Hansen has been extremely generous to the College with his time and his money. He has given his time to numerous civic and educational organizations. He served on the Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association board for six years and was president for two years. He has also served on the CALS Board of Visitors for several years and is just finishing a term as its chairman.

“As WALSAA Board President, John”s leadership style was unassuming but yet visionary. John”s interest was always directed toward improving the program or activities for the benefit of all students and alumni of CALS,” according to Extension food scientist Bill Wendorff. “In the past several years, John has been a strong leader on the CALS Board of Visitors.”

Hansen and his wife Donna recently provided the College with a generous gift that will allow an extensive remodeling of the Babcock Hall Dairy Store. The much-needed remodeling will be a highly visible improvement for this campus landmark.

The Hansens” gift will fund a major facelift for the store, a campus landmark that has served nearly 7 million ice cream cones in its 39-year history. The remodeled store will feature improved traffic flow and a self-service display area. Behind the counters, the store will have upgraded plumbing and electrical service and modernized food-preparation areas. Customers will enjoy improved lighting and ventilation and a more attractive seating area.

John and Donna Hansen have been married 38 years. They have five children, two of whom are UW-Madison graduates, and seven grandchildren.

Bernie Staller Honorary Recognition 2000
As an agribusiness educator and an officer of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation, Bernie Staller”s accomplishments have touched the lives of thousands of young people throughout Wisconsin and the nation. His years of leadership and dedication to young people have earned him the Honorary Recognition Award from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Staller grew up in Fort Atkinson, Wis. After earning bachelor”s and master”s degrees in agricultural education from the College, Staller taught agribusiness and served as FFA advisor at Janesville Parker High School for 11 years. Primarily through his inspirational teaching and leadership, enrollment in his agribusiness classes increased from 40 students to almost 500.

At Janesville, Staller developed an agribusiness curriculum that pioneered ways of successfully meeting the needs of both rural and urban students. His approach was widely copied and adapted to high school programs throughout Wisconsin and the nation. He was twice selected the Outstanding Young Teacher in Wisconsin.

In his present role, Staller influences students nationwide.. Since he came to the Foundation in 1977, annual contributions have grown from $700,000 to almost $8 million. During Staller”s tenure, the Foundation has raised more than $75 million. Nearly 450,000 FFA members in more than 7,500 high schools benefit from his efforts.

Staller launched international exchange programs with Russia and Moldavia in 1991, and today FFA has exchange programs with 25 countries around the world. These exchanges allow students to better understand the world”s agriculture, as well as develop relationships with youth and adults in other cultures.

In his current FFA positions, Staller has proven himself an effective administrator and team leader. He initiated and directed the support of the business community to fund the new National FFA Center in Indianapolis through a $5,200,000 capital campaign, and he oversaw the national FFA convention”s move to Louisville, Ky. after the 40,000-person gathering outgrew its Kansas City site.

Staller has served on the board of the Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association, and has held leadership roles in many local, regional and national organizations.