Wisconsin Ag Connection - UW-RF Prof Onan Earns Distinguished Teacher Honors

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UW-RF Prof Onan Earns Distinguished Teacher Honors
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 04/21/2015

A professor of animal science at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls has been named the school's 2015 Distinguished Teacher of the Year. Gary Onan was chosen by graduating seniors and recent graduates for the highest award bestowed on the UW-River Falls campus.

Onan is a native of Amherst and earned his degrees at UW-Madison, including his Ph.D. in meat science and muscle biology. He came to UW-River Falls in 1997 and has taught at least ten different classes ranging from biometrics to animal physiology and swine production. In 2010 he was elected chair of the Animal and Food Science Department and was re-elected in 2013.

Gary has served as the adviser to the Association of Women in Agriculture club on campus. He has also coached several UW-RF livestock judging teams, and coordinates the academic quadrathlon team that competes each year at the midwest meeting of the American Society of Animal Science. He has supervised numerous undergraduate research projects, including some within the McNair Scholars Program and has mentored students who are acting as the manager for one of the animal enterprises on the UWRF Mann Valley Farm.

In 2006, he was honored by his colleagues in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences with the CAFES Outstanding Teacher Award.

Onan is a member of the American Society of Animal Science, the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists and earned the Professional Animal Scientist designation.

As the 2015 Distinguished Teacher, Onan will deliver the Fall Commencement address in December.

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