Michael Tomaszewski, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist emeritus and visiting professor in the Department of Animal Science, was honored with the American Dairy Science Association, ADSA, Southern Section Honor Award.
Clay Mathis, Ph.D., head of the Department of Animal Science, stands with Michael Tomaszewski, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist emeritus and visiting professor, who received the American Dairy Science Association Southern Section Honor Award. (Kaydee Free/Texas A&M AgriLife) The award, presented on June 25 in Louisville, Kentucky, recognizes distinguished service to the dairy industry across the southern U.S.
Tomaszewski was recognized for his lifelong contributions to dairy herd management, workforce development and applied innovation in dairy science. Additionally, students from the Department of Animal Science were also well-represented at the American Dairy Science Association annual meeting and received awards.
Advancing industry and education through Texas A&M AgriLife Before retiring in 2007, Tomaszewski served the dairy industry in multiple roles for both AgriLife Extension and Texas A&M AgriLife Research as a dairy specialist, as well as professor in the department. Since then, he has contributed as a visiting professor and emeritus specialist.
He is a co-founder of and has served as the academic coordinator for the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium, a nationally recognized six-week program held annually in Clovis, New Mexico. The program draws about 50 students each session from 16 cooperating and collaborating universities and is widely regarded as a model for preparing students for leadership roles in largeherd dairy operations.
In addition, Tomaszewski has made significant contributions to dairy herd management through the development of software programs used by dairy producers worldwide. His AgriLife Extension programs focused on educating producers on utilizing data for decision-making, and he was instrumental in implementing radio frequency identification, RFID, technology into herd recording, an approach that continues to shape modern dairy operations.
Tomaszewski has been a member of numerous National Dairy Herd Improvement and National Cooperative Dairy Herd Improvement Policy Board task forces and committees.
He has been recognized with several awards and honors, including the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s Sustainability Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Partnerships, the American Dairy Science Association award for Outstanding Teaching of Dairy Science and the Western Dairy Business Educator/ Researcher of the Year.
Texas A&M students earn top honors at dairy conference In addition to Tomaszewski’s recognition, students from the Department of Animal Science earned awards for their oral presentations: Natalie Fagundo: 1st place – master student oral presentation.
Michael Penner: 2nd place – undergraduate student oral presentation.
Elizabeth Haugen: 3rd place – undergraduate student original research presentation.
Rajesh Neupane: ADSA graduate student travel grant award.
These recognitions reflect the department’s ongoing commitment to hands-on learning, academic excellence and preparing students to lead in a rapidly evolving industry.
