Fontenot receives the 2012 American Society of Animal Science Retiree Service Award

July 16, 2012 – Joseph Fontenot, professor emeritus of animal science at Virginia Tech, will receive the 2012 American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) Retiree Service Award. He will be honored at the society’s annual meeting Phoenix, Arizona.

Fontenot is renowned for his contribution to animal nutrition research in the areas of beef cattle grazing systems, alternative feedstuffs for ruminants and mineral nutrition. His research into feeding issues has improved management for cattle, small ruminants and horses around the world. During his career, Fontenot trained over 100 Masters and PhD students in animal nutrition research. He also published more than 200 scientific results of his experiments and over 200 progress reports and abstracts of research.

Since his retirement in 2003, Fontenot has remained a leader in the animal sciences. In 2004, he was honored with the title of professor emeritus from Virginia Tech. He served three terms on the ASAS Foundation Board of Directors, and he was instrumental in launching the ASAS Foundation Heritage Lunch at the national ASAS meeting. When Fontenot was honored with an ASAS appreciation club in his honor, Fontenot chose to grant scholarships to animal science graduate students.

The ASAS Retiree Service Award is given to animal scientists who continue their service to ASAS after they retire from their primary professional career positions. The American Society of Animal Science is a professional organization that serves more that 5,000 animal scientists and producers around the world.

Media contact:

Madeline McCurry-Schmidt
American Society of Animal Science Communications
MadelineMS@asas.org