THE NEXT CHAPTER Bidding farewell as Perry Plans Retirement by CCA Associate Director of Communications Maureen LaGrande As the spring semester comes to an end at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology is saying goodbye to longtime department of animal sciences and agricultural education faculty member and beef unit enterprise manager Randy Perry, Ph.D., Prather. For the past 32 years Perry has dedicated his time, knowledge and hand to students, livestock producers, ranchers and family. While he is retiring, Perry’s devotion to Fresno State, the agriculture industry and hundreds of students have and will continue to leave an everlasting mark. Born and raised in Newman, Perry’s college career began at Merced Junior College where he was a member of the livestock judging team while taking animal science classes. Once finished at Merced he transferred to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), to pursue his bachelor’s degree in animal science. With a bachelor’s degree under his belt, Randy then attended Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan, Kan., where he received his master’s in animal science focusing on reproductive physiology research in beef cattle. Perry also completed his doctorate in the impacts of nutrient development in heifers. Throughout the course of his education Perry had several mentors including, Bill Jacobs, Frank Fox and Mike Hall, Nipomo at Cal Poly. Hall got to know Perry well during his time at Cal Poly and participation in various campus activities such as the Cal Poly Bull Test. “He was an outstanding student, who was involved in everything,” Hall said. At KSU, Larry Corah, Guy Kiracofe and Jeff Stevenson also played a large role in Perry’s studies. He also looked up to beef producers, Jay
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Robinson and Walt Hunsaker. Once finished with his doctorate, Perry left Kansas to begin his career in the Jordan College of Agriculture’s Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department at Fresno State. In the department, Perry has taught a range of beef related courses throughout his time on staff including, beef cattle production, advanced beef management and animal reproduction to name a few. At the university in addition to serving as a faculty member he has also held multiple leadership roles over the last three decades. Perry served as department chair for a number of years. Additionally, he has led as the beef unit supervisor and Young Cattlemen’s Association advisor. When Perry first started his teaching career at Fresno State, the college had approximately 250 students studying in the animal science and agricultural education department. At the time Perry taught a majority of the beef related classes in the animal science department. With program expansion and increased interest in the field of animal science at the university, there are now more than 800 students in the department, many more classes offered and multiple lecturers and faculty members. Perry still teaches the advanced beef course and animal reproduction. Of all the courses taught in his career, Perry says animal reproduction has been his favorite. Early on in his career at Fresno, Perry, along with students conducted research on the San Joaquin Experimental Range, owned by the US Forest Service and University of California Cooperative Extension. The research focused on a commercial cow herd and genetic comparisons in British cattle and Brahman influenced productivity. He also conducted carcass testing for producers collecting progeny data from different sires for Angus breeders. Through this study,