University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment faculty members recently brought home national awards from American Society of Animal Science.

“We are very proud of the animal and food sciences faculty and students we have at UK,” said Richard Coffey, chair of the UK Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “They continue to excel in research, teaching and extension. Cutting-edge, impactful research and excellent, creative teaching methods are how we make a difference in the lives of our students and producers.”

UK equine specialist, Bob Coleman is the recipient of two awards. He received the 2020 Equine Science Society and ASAS Equine Science Award, sponsored by Zinpro. The award recognizes an individual who has shown outstanding achievement in the areas of extension, research, teaching or agribusiness in the equine industry. He also received the 2020 Fellow Award for Teaching, which recognizes an ASAS member who has rendered distinguished service to the animal industry and/or to ASAS and has had continuous membership in the society for at least 25 years.

Coleman has spent more than 40 years dedicated to excellence in equine science, education and extension. He has been at UK since 1998, where he oversees all adult equine extension activities. In addition to his extension duties, Coleman teaches and advises in the equine science and management program and is the advisor for the UK Equestrian Team. He received the 2019 ASAS Distinguished Teacher Award.

Coleman serves on the American Quarter Horse Association research committee, is a board member of the Midwest chapter of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, serves as the executive director of the Equine Science Society, and the president-elect for the Certified Horsemanship Association.

The 2020 ASAS Gary L. Cromwell Award for Research in Minerals recognized James Matthews. The award, sponsored by the Gary L. Cromwell Appreciation Club, recognizes an individual who has contributed and published outstanding research in the field of mineral nutrition for livestock.

A professor of animal nutrition, Matthews has established a cutting-edge research program in mineral nutrition and physiology using commercially relevant experimental models. Through his research, he explains novel understandings of selenium and amino acid transport and metabolism that expands both production-animal and biomedical knowledge databases.

His genomic and protein findings about how the expression and function of nutrient transporters and enzymes are coordinated is highly relevant to both the production animal and biomedical sciences. He has advised 14 doctoral, seven postdoctoral, 13 master’s students and 22 undergraduate students and provided training in whole animal, biochemical and molecular biology research techniques.

His research has the potential to have a rapid impact on development of nutritional regimens that optimize the performance of developing and mature animals.

The Gary Cromwell Award is named after a retired UK professor in non-ruminant nutrition. Cromwell spent his entire professional career at UK after earning degrees at Kansas State University and Purdue University. His broad-based research included assessment of amino acid and mineral requirements of swine, the bioavailability of phosphorus in feedstuffs, copper as a growth promotant, the efficacy and safety of antibiotics, nutritional aspects of genetically modified crops and environmental aspects associated with the use of phytase in swine diets.

Cromwell’s research on phosphorus bioavailability has provided the basis for formulating pig diets on an "available phosphorus" basis. He is the author or co-author of more than 950 publications, including 139 refereed journal articles. He has directed or co-directed 61 graduate students, many of whom have prominent roles in the feed industry or academia. Cromwell served as president of ASAS in 1989-1990, as the nonruminant nutrition section editor of the Journal of Animal Science and chaired the FASS Food Safety Committee and the National Research Council's Committee on Animal Nutrition. He chaired the committee that prepared the 10th edition of Nutrient Requirements of Swine, in 1998. In 2002, he was the recipient of the Morrison Award.