H. Allen Tucker with Dean Holly Smith

H. Allen Tucker received his Ph.D. in Dairy Science in 1963, under the direction of Ralph Reece. He then went to Michigan State University where he spent his entire professional career, retiring in 2000. Dr. Tucker is recognized as one of the most important figures in dairy science and mammary physiology and his work has directly benefited dairy production as well as human nutrition and health throughout the world. He is the author of more than 355 scientific articles and the recipient of many professional awards. His contributions have not only served the field of bovine management and dairy production, but also our understanding of metabolic and developmental diseases of the mammary gland, including applications to the understanding of breast cancer in women. Dr. Tucker is recognized as an enormously successful mentor of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars and he has received teaching awards from both the American Society of Animal Science and from Michigan State University. Fittingly, this lifetime award goes to a man who is the “academic grandson” of the major figure in lactation research of the early 20th century (his advisor’s advisor) and has mentored twenty-one of his own Ph.D. students and many postdoctoral scholars and visiting scientists to continue that lineage.