Conversations from the Hall of Fame

Keith E. Gregory, geneticist, interviewed 2004

(Time: ~8:23 minutes)

I call home Hastings, Nebraska which is 20 miles from the US Meat Animal Research Center. I grew up in Macon County, North Carolina which is in the western part of the state, the mountains of North Carolina. My parents were farmers as were most people in that part of the country at that time. 

I was the first director of the US Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska from 1966 to 1977. My area is beef cattle breeding research and prior to being director of US Meat Animal Research Center, I did beef cattle breeding research for eleven years at the Fort Robinson Beef Cattle Research Station in Crawford, Nebraska which is an ARS facility. 

I retired from ARS in 1998. I had forty three years as an employee of ARS and including military I had 47 years of  government service. 

Why Science?

As an undergraduate I enjoyed the science courses. Did relatively well in them. Enough to get into graduate school and even though they're a long generation animal and low reproduction rate, I decided I wanted to work with beef cattle. 

Education 

Got my bachelor's degree at North Carolina State University in animal science, my master's at the University of Nebraska in animal breeding and genetics, and my PhD at the University of Missouri in animal breeding and genetics receiving my PhD in 1951. I knew that where my primary interests were however, in my PhD program because of the availability of opportunity I did work in swine breeding research at the university of Missouri. My first position after receiving my PhD degree at Auburn university my research component was in beef cattle breeding.  

Scientific Achievements 

I made contributions in the area of beef cattle breeding a technology that has been implemented at a high rate in the US and used considerably in other countries. In fact I made thirty some trips abroad, 15 countries I believe, basically relating to reviewing results from research programs for which I was responsible 

The work related to several areas--primary area determining the importance of hybrid vigor from  crosses, breed crosses of beef cattle; characterizing beef cattle for biological traits; now it has evolved into a program that's characterized by about 35 breeds in a series of cycles not always at one time and perhaps the work of greatest interest was the matter of using composites, developing the information needed to develop composite breeds or populations that would use simultaneously high levels of hybrid vigor and high levels of breed complementarity. In other words using the desirable attributes of several breeds in one population and retaining the high level of hybrid vigor in advanced generations after combining those breeds. 

Another area in which I worked in fairly recently is increasing twining rate in cattle population. It now has a twining rate of about fifty percent as a result of effective selection using criteria of ovulation rate in puberal heifers that had been produced by young bulls with high breeding values of twining. 

Looking Forward 

Our research is as related to evaluating traits that are influenced by a large number of genes. With the development of molecular biology obviously it does provide the basis for identifying quantitative trait loci which can be combined with what we know about the quantitative inheritance of these traits to enhance the effectiveness of selection.

We believe that. The documentation is in hand but we think that the development of molecular approaches to improving animal improvement is highly relevant. 

Words of Wisdom

First be interested and committed or obsessed with what you are doing and then commit yourself fully to answering the most important questions in that area. Commitment is fundamental to answering relevant problems or questions.

Science After ARS

I am involved as a collaborator, have been since I retired in 1998. Spend a limited amount of time at the Meat Animal Research Center. I go when I need to be there and I go sometimes because I want to be there, beyond the need. 

Looking Back 

If I had the opportunity, I wouldn't do anything differently. In other words I think I've had an opportunity to fully utilize my talents and ARS has been a great organization to do effective research and I haven't had many bad days most of them I come to work smiling and I go home smiling.