The MEAT INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME Trustees
Dell Allen, Vice President, Excel Corp. (retired)
Randy Blach, CEO, CattleFax Inc.
Joel Brandenberger, President, National Turkey Federation
Greg Henderson, Editor, Drovers magazine
Steve Krut, AAMP Executive Director (retired)
Rosemary Mucklow, NMA Executive Director (retired)
Dr. Elsa Murano, President, Texas A&M University
Dr. Gary Smith, Monfort Endowed Professor, Colorado State University
Jan Kuhlmann, President and CEO of Kansas City, Mo.-based Multivac Inc
John Stika, President, Certified Angus Beef
John Starkey, President, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
Michael Strauss, Director, Colorado Boxed Beef; President, North American Meat Processors
Dr. Janice Swanson, Professor, Michigan State University
Barbara Young, Editor, National Provisioner magazine
Dell Allen
Dell Allen is a long-time meatpacking executive who rose from various positions in beef packing at Excel Corp. in Wichita, Kan., to become Vice President of Technical Services with Cargill Meat Solutions, Excel’s Minneapolis-based parent company and the world’s largest privately held meat, grain and food processing company
Randy Blach
Randy Blach is CEO of CattleFax, and organization focused on helping its member-producers in the cattle industry make more profitable marketing and management decisions. CattleFax is the beef industry leader in delivering timely market and pricing information, analyses and research.
Randy started at CattleFax in 1981 and served as the director of market analysis for 15 years. He was named to his current position in 2001. During that time, he has been a keynote speaker at hundreds of cattle and meat industry conventions, meetings and seminars.
A Colorado native, Blach and his family remain actively involved in ranching with a cow-calf, stocker and finished cattle operations. He was raised on his family’s ranch in Yuma, Colo., and graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s degree in animal science.
In 2004, Blach received the Honor Alumni Award from Colorado State’s College of Agricultural Sciences
Joel Brandenberger
Joel Brandenberger is President of the National Turkey Federation. He joined NTF in 1991 as the Federation’s director of public affairs and served in a variety of positions – most recently as senior vice president for legislative affairs – before being appointed to his current post in December 2006.
For most of his tenure at NTF, Brandenberger represented the turkey industry before Congress on a wide range of issues, including food safety, farm policy, the environment, energy policy and animal health and welfare.
Immediately prior to joining NTF, he was legislative director and press secretary for then-Rep. Bill Sarpalius (D-Texas). Brandenberger also was Sarpalius’ press secretary and chief of staff in the Texas Senate and press secretary for Sarpalius’ successful 1988 congressional campaign.
Prior to that, he spent almost three years as a reporter and editor at the Amarillo Globe-News in Texas.
Brandenberger is a graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock
Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson was named Editor of Drovers magazine in 1992, becoming only the fourth person to hold that position since 1920. In 1995 he was promoted to Associate Publisher/Editor. Greg joined Drovers as an associate editor in 1984, and served as marketing editor and managing editor prior to becoming editor.
Greg earned a B.S. in Agricultural Journalism with a minor in Ag Economics, and an M.S. in Journalism and Mass Communications from Kansas State University. He worked four years for a Kansas regional agricultural newsweekly before joining past president and board member.
Greg is a Board member of the Livestock and Meat Industry Council at Kansas State University, a member of the American Agricultural Editor's Association, past president and board member of the Livestock Publications Council, and chairman of the Agricultural Media Summit in 1999 and 2000.
Raised on a ranch in the southern Flint Hills of Kansas, Greg remains actively involved in beef production as part-owner of the family operation. Greg resides in Olathe with wife Ruth and two children. Greg was a co-recipient of the 1993 Oscar in Agriculture, and the 2000 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award, the business press equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.
In 2008, Greg was inducted into the Livestock Publications Council Hall of Fame in Kansas City.
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Steve Krut
Steve Krut was the long-time executive director of the American Association of Meat Processors until his retirement in January 2007.
Krut first joined AAMP, the largest North American trade association representing smaller meat and poultry processors, as director of public relations in 1974. He was named assistant executive director in 1976, and in 1981, he was appointed Executive Director.
Steve was a founder and acting chairman of the Meat Association Council, a coalition of 28 state, national and international meat packer and processor trade organizations. He served as the first chairman of the International HACCP Alliance.
He was appointed by three different USDA secretaries to serve on the National Advisory Committee for Meat & Poultry Inspection, and also performed meat-industry developmental work for the Organization of American States in Latin America. Steve also helped organize the Bulgarian Meat Association and the Romanian Meat Association, providing membership growth, food safety and product quality training.
Steve remains active in AAMP, where his long tenure and expertise serves member companies in a variety of areas.
Rosemary Mucklow
Rosemary Mucklow is one of the meat industry’s most prominent leaders and a vigorous advocate for the interests of the nation’s meat and poultry packers and processors.
From 1982 until 2007, she served as the Director of the National Meat Association, an association representing meatpackers, processors, wholesalers, sausage makers and related companies. During that time, she was tirelessly engaged on a variety of issues, such as HACCP implementation, food-safety initiatives and other important regulatory matters.
In 1996, Mucklow received the E. Floyd Forbes award presented by NMA in recognition of her outstanding service to the meat industry. The award is named for the first president of the Western States Meat Packers Association, the predecessor of the National Meat Association.
In 2008, she received the Richard E. Lyng Award from the American Meat Institute in recognition of her long and continued commitment and dedication to the meat industry. The award, which was presented by AMI President and CEO Patrick Boyle, is named after the late Richard E. Lyng, former AMI President and Secretary of Agriculture under President Ronald Reagan. Past recipients of the Lyng Award include Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), USDA Secretary Ann Veneman, Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Pat Roberts (R-Okla.), as well as Reps. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas), Kika de la Garza (D-Texas) and Charles Stenholm (D-Texas).
Most recently, Rosemary received a unique recognition for her lifelong contributions to the industry when a hall named for her at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Mucklow was born and schooled in Edinburgh, Scotland and received a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She currently resides in Berkeley, Calif., and remains active in providing support and counsel for NMA member companies.
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Dr. Elsa A. Murano
Elsa A. Murano is the 23rd President of Texas A&M University, taking office in January 2008. At age 49, she is the first woman and first Hispanic-American to lead the oldest public institution of higher learning in Texas and one of the largest teaching and research universities in the nation.
Elsa worked her way up the academic ranks into administration from an unconventional beginning. At age 2, her family departed from Cuba when Fidel Castro came into power, eventually settling in Miami when she was 14 years old. At that time, she only knew Spanish but quickly mastered English and began her educational career.
She earned a Bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Florida International University and earned a Master's degree in anaerobic microbiology and a Doctorate in food science and technology from Virginia Tech and was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Preventative Medicine at Iowa State University.
In 1995, she joined Texas A&M as an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science and Associate Director of the Center for Food Safety. In 1997, she was named Director of the Center, rose to the rank of Professor and was named holder of the Sadie Hatfield Professorship in Agriculture.
In 2001, President George W. Bush named her USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, the nation’s highest ranking food-safety official.
She returned to Texas A&M in January 2005 as Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, positions she held until being appointed university president. While serving as Dean, the College experienced significant growth in enrollment and enhancement of teaching, research and service. Elsa also chaired a blue-ribbon task force to study ways for enhancing the undergraduate experience at the University, which has ultimately become known as “The Murano Report.”
Elsa has been principal investigator or co-investigator in research projects totaling more than $8.7 million while at Iowa State University and Texas A&M. She is the author or co-author of seven books, book chapters or monographs and scores of scholarly papers, abstracts and related materials.
Dr. Gary C. Smith
Since June 1990, Dr. Gary C. Smith has occupied the Monfort Endowed Chair in Meat Science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Previously, he served as a Professor (1969-1982) and Head (1982-1990) of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, where he won the Outstanding Teaching Performance Award, the Honor Professor Award, the College of Agriculture Teaching Award, the University Distinguished Teaching Award and the Deputy Chancellor’s Award for Team Research.
Gary has won both the Distinguished Research Award and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the American Society of Animal Science and from the American Meat Science Association.
His other awards include:
•The National Association of Meat Purveyors Outstanding Educator Award
•The National Livestock Grading and Marketing Association Service Award (1979, 1988, 1995)
•The Livestock Publications Council Headliner Award
•Named one of six "Industry Innovators" by Meat Marketing and Technology magazine
•Named one of the "25 Who Made a Difference" by Beef magazine
•Meritorious Service Award from the Intercollegiate Meat Coaches Association of the American Meat Science Association (1997)
•The American Meat Institute’s Meat Industry Achievement Award
In 1993, Gary was named a University Distinguished Professor by Colorado State University and a Fellow-In-Teaching by the American Society of Animal Science. In 1996 he received the Alumni Award of Excellence from California State University-Fresno.
In addition to those many honors, Gary has spent many hours service to industry associations and the member companies that comprise the meat industry.
Jan Kuhlmann
Jan Kuhlmann is President and CEO of Kansas City, Mo.-based Multivac Inc. He has served in that position since 2006 and is responsible for all U.S. management and strategic developments.
Multivac engineers and markets equipment for packaging perishable products—especially meat and poultry—in vacuum-packed or modified-atmosphere packages for food processors, medical and industrial customers.
Prior to that Kuhlmann served as President of Wolf-tec Inc., a Kingston, N.Y.-based manufacturer of state-of-the-art curing, marination, cooking and slicing equipment, where he helped solidify the management structure and sales organization and streamlined customer support functions.
Kuhlmann also spent nearly three years as President of Frisco, Texas-based CFS North America, a full-line equipment manufacturer that marketed processing and packaging systems especially targeted for the meat and poultry industry.
Prior to that, he served for nearly 20 year as President of Wolfking Inc., a Danish-based global manufacturer of meat processing equipment, with North American headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. There, he was responsible for marketing and strategic development and built a professional sales and management organization that successfully re-branded Wolfking and introduced several new equipment lines and further processing technology into the marketplace.
Kuhlmann has served on numerous industry tasks forces and committees, including the American Meat Institute Suppliers’ Committee, and is a former member of the AMI Board of Directors.
John Starkey
John Starkey is President of the Tucker, Ga.-based U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, responsible for managing the total business affairs of the association. He first joined USPOULTRY as Vice President of Environmental Programs in 2000 and also served on the association’s Research Advisory Committee from 1993 to 1999.
Prior to his USPOULTRY service, Starkey served as manager of environmental engineering for Gold Kist, director of environmental affairs for Hudson Foods and was a principal in the engineering firm of Vaughn, Coltrane & Associates.
He is a member of the Water Environment Federation, a professional organization that conducts educational programs, technical conferences, operator training and certification programs and legislative and regulatory activities on all manner of water management issues.
Starkey, a registered professional engineer, earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and a Master’s degree in sanitary engineering from Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
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John Stika, Phd., started with Certified Angus Beef in 1999, following graduate school at the University of Kentucky, where he received a Doctorate in Meat Science. Stika began as an Assistant Director for Supply Development with responsibilities tied to the Certified Angus Beef producer and feedlot programs.
Since then, he has served serve in various roles within CAB, including being responsible for directing brand initiatives with licensed packers, processors, retailers, foodservice distributors and restaurateurs, both domestic and international.
In 2006, when former CAB President Jim Riemann retired after leading the organization for eight years, Stika was named president. His mandate had been to focus on that service and support for the CBA staff, licensees and the 26,000 members of the American Angus Association and thousands of CAB-affiliated breeders ad producers.
Barbara Young
Barbara Young, Editor-In-Chief of The NATIONAL PROVISIONER since 1994, has enjoyed a publishing career of more than 20 years beginning with her first job as a staff writer at Michigan's Detroit News and later a stint at the former Inside Chicago magazine, where she moved through the ranks to become Associate Publisher.
A cum laude graduate of Wayne State University, she received the Society of Professional Journalist's outstanding graduate award, an award from the Michigan Associated Press and the Peter Lisagor Award for superior contributions to journalism from the Chicago SPJ chapter. She later toured Kenya and Tanzania as a member of the Kettering Foundation’s International Awareness project to heighten awareness of global interdependence.
As Editor, Young maintained the tradition of The NATIONAL PROVISIONER – chronicling issues and solutions that define the meat industry – while reshaping the 117-year-old publication into a modern magazine covering the progressive and often controversial industry of manufacturing and distributing meat proteins to a global marketplace. She has interviewed industry leaders, written articles and profiles of major U.S. meat and poultry companies and industry associations.
Among her proudest professional accomplishments was the opportunity to deliver the keynote address at Southern University’s “Blacks in Agriculture Awareness Symposium” in 1998 and serving as Professor for a Day at Texas A&M University in 2000.