COLUMBUS, Ohio Three
dairy industry pioneers have been
selected to receive Pioneer
Awards from National Dairy
Shrine, the “Hall of Fame” of the
dairy industry. The three men are:
Dr. John Almquist, State College.
Pa., who will be the third person to
be honored as a “Living” Pioneer,
Dr. Elmer Woelffer, Ocono
mowoc, Wis. and Dr. Kenneth
Turk, Ithaca, N.Y.
All will be honored at the 50th
Anniversary banquet of National
Dairy Shrine on Sept. 30 in Madi
son, Wis., in conjunction with
World Dairy Expo. Thereafter,
their portraits will be displayed at
the National Dairy Shrine Visi
tors’ Center and Museum at Fort
Atkinson, Wis., along with the
244 previous “Pioneer” honorees.
Dr. John Almquist
Dr. John Almquist is well
known internationally for his
work in artificial insemination
(AI) and reproductive physiology
of cattle. He has authored more
than 16S research papers in scien
tific and professional journals and
proceedings, with much of his ear
ly work dealing with methods of
semen preservation and means of
extending the usefulness of gene
tically superior sires through AI.
Dr. Almquist was the first per
son to demonstrate the value of
adding penicillin and streptomy
cin to diluted bull semen to control
bacterial growth and increase fer
tility. As a result, antibiotics are
used universally by the AI indus
try and a substantial increase in
lueeding efficiency has been re-
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Dairy Shrine Honors Three Industry Pioneers
alized all over the world.
He also pioneered the use of
milk-base extenders to prolong the
fertile life of bull spermatozoa.
Later, he added glycerol to milk to
develop an improved liquid dilut
ent which permitted semen to re
tain high fertility over a long
period.
On another aspect, his research
showed behavioral preparation of
bulls signficantly increased the
number of sperm that can be har
vested for use in artificial in
semination.
Almquist received his bache
lor’s degree from Cornell, his
master’s from Purdue and his doc
torate from Penn State. He taught
at Penn State from 1944 until 1982
and was an outstanding teacher
and researcher. He received the
Wolf Foundation Prize for Agri
culture in 1981, the highest scien
tific honor for agriculture in the
world. His many other honors in
clude the NAAB research award
and the Distinguished Alumnus
Award from Penn State in 1997.
Dr. Almquist and his wife, Nor
ma, a retired teacher of home eco
nomics, have three children, two
daughters and a son.
Dr. Kenneth Turk-(1908-1990)
Dr. Kenneth Turk, Ithaca, N.Y.,
had a remarkable career as pro
fessor of dairy husbandry and then
head of the department at the Uni
versity of Maryland, followed by
18 years as head of the Animal
Husbandry Department at Cornell
University. During that time, he
continued to teach an outstanding
course in dairy cattle. He then be
came the first director of interna
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Dalry of Distinction Supplement to Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 31, 1999—Page 35
tional agriculture in any college in
the United States. He retired in
1974.
In addition to his service as an
administrator during 34 years of
his 40-year career. Dr. Turk
authored or co-authored 70 scien
tific or scholarly articles and re
search bulletins in the field of ani
mal science. He also published
more than 300 semi-technical or
popular articles on a variety of
livestock subjects.
Perhaps Dr. Turk’s outstanding
single achievement was the Uni
versity of the Philippines-Comell
Graduate Education Program,
sponsored by the Ford Founda
tion. Dr. Turk ably assisted in
many areas by Mrs. Turk (Ber
nice), joined with the faculty and
administration of the College of
Agriculture, University of the
Philippines and the faculty and
students from Cornell, to develop
a modem graduate education pro
gram in a modem university set
ting. This great College of Api
culture, University of the Philip
pines provides educational leader
ship in Southeast Asia as well as
in the Philippines.
Dr. Turk developed the gradu
ate assistant concept, which has
been accepted by others as stand
ard educational procedure. Inter
ested graduate students have an
opportunity for thesis research
under supervision in an interna
tional program.
He also developed the organiza
tion of the Directors of Interna
tional Agricultural Programs in
U.S. land grand universities, a
concept that has resulted in a vi-
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able organization that, among
other duties, advises the deans of
the colleges of agriculture and
serves in a similar capacity to na
tional organizalins, including the
Department of State.
One of the nominators of Dr.
Turk wrote, “Few people in the
world have had greater influence
on the dairy industry than Dr.
Turk. He was highly respected by
the agricultural and government
leaders of New York and the na
tion.”
Dr. Elmer Woelffer
(lB97-1995)
Dr. Elmer Woelffer’s contribu
tions to the dairy industry were not
only as a dairy cattle veterinarian
but also as a herdsman and show
man of great cattle. Bom in Wis
consin, he received his bachelor’s
from the University of Wisconsin
and his Ph.D. from Cornell.
He worked as a herdsman,
showman and in sales for many
elite Holstein, Guernsey, and Jer
sey herds from 1922 to 1927. Af
ter graduating from vet school, he
became manager and veterinarian
for the company-owned farms of
the largest milk company, HP.
Hood in New England for 16
years.
Quality milk production and
sales were always foremost in his
mind.
From Hood dairies, he went
into teaching at the University of
Illinois for two years, then became
veterinarian and vice president of
Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc,
Wis., from 1950-1952. From then
until his death, he conducted a
consulting practice, specializing
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in bovine fertility. He was still
practicing in 1995 at the age of 97!
Through 30 of those years. Dr.
Woelffer became well known as
the veterinary editor for Hoard’s
Dairyman, contributing hundreds
of articles educating dairy farmers
and veterinarians. He also spoke at
many veterinary and dairy cattle
meetings in the United States and
in foreign countries.
During his career. Dr. Woelffer,
received several distinguished ser
vice awards and the Amstutz-Wil
liams Award from the Bovine
Practitioners Association of
America in 1994, the highest
award given by this group of ve
terinariians. Only six persons have
received this award. Woelffer was
named the Industry Person of the
Year by World Dairy Expo in
1983 and received the Klussen
dorf Award in 1993.
One nominator wrote: “Dr.
Woelffer was an admired gentle
man and veterinarian. He showed
compassion for everyone he came
in contact with .. . and this same
quality was evident in his re
sourcefulness when working on
livestock.”
Dr. Woelffer and his wife, Mar
ian, were married for 64 years.
They had three daughters, Judith,
Nancy and Linda.
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