Gary Smith receives 2025 industry achievement award

Smith worked as a Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences professor from 1969-1982 and was head of the Department of Animal Science from 1982-1990. He rejoined the department in 2014 as a visiting professor.

From food safety to quality beef production, it could be argued his research findings helped save the beef industry in some of its most challenging times. College students were educated, inspired and trained to be top-notch leaders under his leadership.

Known as the “Dean of Meat Scientists,” the renowned researcher and educator never shied away from getting in the trenches and putting in the work.

Smith leaves lasting impression

Smith’s first exposure to protein processing was during his childhood, when his family would gather to harvest livestock and poultry for meat. From cattle and hogs to chickens and turkeys, generations would work together to get the job done.

Witnessing the challenges of drought and socio-economic issues on the farm made an impression on Smith. When choosing a degree path, he chose agricultural education — his experience guiding him to help other farm families find success.

After high school, Smith headed to California State University, Fresno, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in vocational agricultural education. He completed his degree, spent a year student-teaching high school agricultural classes, but decided the job wasn’t the perfect fit for him.

At the encouragement of a college advisor, Smith returned to graduate school to finish a master’s degree, with plans to return to the classroom as a junior college instructor. Although he finished his master’s in animal breeding, it was his time at Washington State University that set the pivot for Smith’s next chapter in meat science.

A chance opportunity

Smith had dabbled in meat judging and took a meats course while at Fresno State but had no intention of becoming a meat scientist. While finishing graduate school at Washington State, however, Gene Ensminger, Ph.D., department head, tapped him to fill a vacant meat science professor position.

After four years teaching meat science, Smith took a leave of absence to get his doctorate at Texas A&M University under famed animal scientist, O.D. Butler, Ph.D.

The rest is history.

“I got into meat science; I loved it and spent the rest of my life trying to be better at it,” Smith said.

Since his academic detour, Smith has been at the forefront of industry-changing research. A key to his success has been establishing a deep network of colleagues and peers within meat science, the beef community and the agricultural industry. Smith’s work ethic, passion and initiative to find solutions for producers were paramount to becoming the “Dean of Meat Scientists.”

“The things I enjoyed the most were getting involved with people who were in the trenches trying to make a living, trying to make a better life for themselves and others,” Smith said. “We just helped them by finding ways to use research.”

At the forefront of meat science for six decades

Throughout his 60-year career, Smith’s work varied and expanded greatly. In the early years, he was educating people on how to cure meat with the right combination of salt, nitrate and nitrite. By retirement, his research had touched all corners of meat science — a nod to his unique talent to keep an ear to the ground on what problems existed and where solutions needed to be found.

Smith has been at the forefront of studies on beef palatability, food safety, product packaging, beef shelf life, transoceanic shipment of meat and food safety, including mitigation of E. coli, salmonella and listeria in packing plants.

Alongside a team of researchers from Texas A&M and Colorado State University, Smith pioneered the National Beef Quality Audit. Other notable industry research projects he led include the International Beef Quality Audit, National Consumer Retail Beef Study, and exploring U.S. Department of Agriculture beef quality and yield grade standards.

The infamous War on Fat was fought during Smith’s research tenure as well. There was a belief that cattle had too much backfat and the issue needed to be rectified. Smith was on the front lines fighting for the beef industry.

“I think we were scared to death we were going to lose beef over quality,” Smith said.

Getting rid of the waste fat, while simultaneously keeping the “taste fat,” proved to be the answer — one that Smith said saved the industry.

“It took us time,” Smith said. “Fortunately, there were people who went the right direction and the industry as a whole did it.”

Jeffrey W. Savell, Ph.D., vice chancellor and dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences, University Distinguished Professor and E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair in Animal Science at Texas A&M, said at that time, many people were skeptical.

“He let the data support what he had to say,” Savell said, which paved the way for an industry’s understanding of quality and its importance.

Savell said Smith could bring research results to life in a remarkable way — translating them and explaining what the research meant to others, with a “magic” unlike anyone else.

Dean of Meat Scientists

Smith taught thousands of students and mentored hundreds of graduate students. Many are now industry leaders in research, academia and government roles.

“He’s an icon,” Russell Cross, Ph.D., retired senior professor in the Department of Animal Science and another key figure in the industry, said. “We call him the Dean of Meat Scientists.”

Cross, who worked alongside Smith for decades, said Smith’s unique teaching and communication style brought out students’ ideas and inspired them to ask questions. It’s part of what made Smith such an admired educator and the recipient of many teaching awards. The other part? The genuine care and love he has shown his students.

Now retired from academia, Smith’s passion is still present. It’s common to see him in the halls of Texas A&M’s buildings, dropping off news articles and notes he’s meticulously written for those actively doing research and teaching college courses.

The application of his research findings has improved every sector of the beef community, from cow-calf ranchers to feedyards, packers and end-users. Beyond the practical implications of Smith’s research, he is known for his unmatched work ethic, no-stone-left-unturned research methodology and the ability to build collaborative — and deeply meaningful — relationships with students, colleagues and peers.

“You can measure people by who they had around them, who they trained and the impact they had,” Cross said. “For Dr. Smith, it’s impossible to measure. He will go down in history as the one who had the greatest impact on the meat science community.”

The original story by Lindsay Graber Runft appeared in the Angus Beef Bulletin.