Jay Laurence Lush (January 3, 1896 – May 22, 1982) was a pioneering animal

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

who made important contributions to livestock breeding. He is sometimes known as the father of modern scientific

animal breeding Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation (using best linear unbiased prediction and other methods) of the genetic value (estimated breeding value, EBV) of livestock. Selecting for breeding animals with superior E ...

. Lush received

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

in 1968 and the Wolf Prize in 1979. Lush was introduced to mathematics and genetics during his

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

studies of animal husbandry at the

Kansas State Agricultural College Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

(now Kansas State University). He completed his MSc in 1918 at Kansas State, and his PhD in genetics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

(1922). Lush advocated breeding not based on subjective appearance of the animal, but on quantitative statistics and genetic information. Lush authored a classic textboo
''Animal Breeding Plans''
in 1937 which greatly influenced animal breeding around the world. From 1930 to 1966, Lush was the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He was elected to the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1967. Lush won the Borden Award for research in dairy production from the

American Dairy Science Association The American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) is a non-profit professional organization for the advancement of dairy science. ADSA is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Consisting of 4500 members, ADSA is involved in research, education, and in ...

and both the Armour Award for animal breeding and genetics and the Morrison Award from the American Society of Animal Science. In 1979, he was awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.

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* * * * * * * * 1896 births 1982 deaths American geneticists Iowa State University faculty Kansas State University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences National Medal of Science laureates Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates People from Page County, Iowa {{agri-stub