Randel recognized by American Brahman Breeders Association with Friend of the Year award
HOUSTON — Dr. Ron Randel, Texas A&M AgriLife Research physiologist, received the American Brahman Breeders Association Friend of the Year award during the Houston Livestock and Rodeo’s International Brahman Show earlier this year.
Randel is based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Overton and oversees several projects focused on the reproductive physiology of tropically adapted cattle, the nutrition-reproduction interaction and most recently the temperament and stress responsiveness of beef cattle. He has researched the physiology and endocrinology of ovarian and pituitary functions in Brahman cattle for more than two decades.
“This award is probably long overdue,” said Chris Shivers, the association’s executive vice president. “Dr. Randel has done as much Brahman research as anyone out there. He greatly helped in launching our docility expected progeny difference and has a vast amount of knowledge in regards to Brahman cattle.”
Randel has studied the influence of prenatal stress and temperament on health and productivity of beef calves for more than two decades. Randel and other researchers used objective and subjective methods to assess calf temperament at an early age and demonstrated the heritability of temperament traits.
He developed an internationally recognized research and graduate student training program in the area of reproductive biology and has presented invited papers on reproductive and stress physiology topics on six continents, according to his AgriLife Research biography.
Randel’s most recent research focuses on the physiological and genetic factors that affect beef cattle productivity, which emphasizes the influence of prenatal stress on postnatal performance and health of the animal.
Randel has mentored 32 doctoral and 47 master’s students during his tenure.
He has worked at the center as the Cattle Reproductive physiology professor since 1974. He became a Senior Faculty Fellow and Regents Fellow in 2005.
Much of his research has improved reproductive performance of beef cattle in East Texas, the southeastern U.S. and internationally, according to Randel’s biography.
Randel earned his bachelor’s in animal science from Washington State University in 1965 and doctorate from Purdue University in 1971. He has been honored with more than a dozen awards including the Texas A&M University System Award in Excellence for Research Off-campus, the system’s award for Excellence for International Involvement, American Society of Animal Science Fellow, the L.E. Casida Award, and the Distinguished Alumni-Lifetime Career Award, Department of Animal Sciences from Purdue University.
“It is very satisfying to be recognized by the clientele of the Texas A&M University System,” Randel said.
