Iowa State University
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Celebrating 150 Years of Excellence in Agriculture at Iowa State

Essays on the College of Agriculture's History

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Animal Science Department and their People

By Lloyd L. Anderson


Lloyd L. Anderson

Editor’s note: Lloyd Anderson has been serving Iowa State University and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for almost 50 years. Since his first faculty assignment in 1958, Anderson has served, in some instances he’s still serving, the departments of animal husbandry, dairy husbandry, animal science and the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is a C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences. Anderson writes about his time at Iowa State University, the elite leaders in the College during that time and the people and students he had the opportunity to work with.

Born the third of eventually five children in my family during the Great Depression, I was truly fortunate. My parents, farmers with an eighth-grade education, provided love, wisdom unbounded and encouragement for me to achieve my dreams and aspirations. After a year at Simpson College I transferred to Iowa State for Fall Quarter in 1952 to enroll in Animal Husbandry (Charles E. Friley was president 1936-1953, followed by James H. Hilton, 1953-1965; William R. Parks 1965-1986; Gordon Eaton 1986-1990; Martin Jischke 1991-2000; and Gregory L. Geoffroy 2001-present). Arthur L. Anderson and William F. LaGrange were my advisors; Phineas S. Shear was department head (1935-1954) who had a great love for livestock judging. He was the livestock judging coach from 1919-1934 (James H. Hilton was member of the judging team in 1922) and enjoyed coming to the Livestock Judging Pavilion to observe the students’ progress on their oral reasons.

From 1953-1955, I served in the Army (293rd Construction Engineers Battalion, Baumholder, West Germany) and returned to Ames to complete my bachelor’s degree from Iowa State College of Agriculture & Mechanic Arts in 1957. James Kiser was coach of the livestock judging team (1951-1969), and in 1957 our team had a banner year placing 2nd at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago; the Southwestern Livestock Show in Fort Worth; and the American Royal in Kansas City. In our class was one female student, in contrast to 80 percent of 650 current students being female in the current animal science department.

During my senior year I worked part-time in the reproductive physiology laboratory of Professor Robert M. Melampy and immediately after graduation began graduate studies with him. I had the good fortune to have an outstanding mentor in an emerging discipline in animal physiology. Other graduate students in the group at that time included Billy Day (who became professor at University of Missouri) and Gordon Duncan (who became vice president for Research at Upjohn). Upon graduating with a doctorate degree from Iowa State University of Science and Technology in 1961, I joined the faculty as assistant professor in reproductive physiology. Dean of Agriculture, Floyd Andre, lived in the Farm House near Curtiss Hall. Microbiologist Robert E. Buchanan spent his mornings in Curtiss Hall updating his beloved Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology and strolled across campus in the afternoon to Beardshear Hall to serve as dean of the Graduate College. Times seemed much simpler then compared with the present.

My research focuses on how brain hormones regulate processes of growth and reproduction. I was a NIH (National Institutes of Health) Postdoctoral Fellow (1961-1962) at ISU and Lalor Foundation Fellow (1963-1964, Station de Recherches de Physiologie Animale, CNRZ, INRA, Jouy-en-Josas, France) where I learned surgical techniques in pigs of pituitary gland removal at the base of the brain. My wife and I had an apartment in Versailles, about 5 kilometers from Jouy and drove a great little car — a Citroën, 2 CV.

At ISU I developed several surgical techniques to investigate hormone regulation in pigs and cattle. These live animal approaches focused on brain regulation of growth and reproduction in livestock species in intensive studies requiring round-the-clock monitoring of the animals during post-surgery recovery that was a part of all students’ and professor commitment. Discovery of absolutely new findings is exciting. I will relate three examples.

First, was discovery of electron dense granules in ovaries of pigs, and the accumulation and disappearance of these granules just a few hours preceding birth. We followed this work with bioassay of blood collected the last hours of pregnancy to discover a massive peak release of the hormone, relaxin; and later on proved these granules were sites of relaxin storage during pregnancy by immunogold relaxin antibody labeling of the granules in the cytoplasm of the cell. This proved that the granules were the specific site of relaxin storage in the cell.

Second, utilizing the same techniques that in pigs that had never been pregnant, an inherent peak release of relaxin occurred at precisely the same time as found a few hours before expected normal delivery of piglets. Thus, a marker of estrus 113 days earlier in nonpregnant pigs was sufficient to precisely time pig relaxin release.

A third example focused on determination of molecular and cellular mechanisms of growth hormone secretion in live pig growth hormone (GH) cells utilizing techniques of atomic force microscopy (AFM), immunogold GH antibody labeling, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and immunofluorscence labeling of cells. Cellular mechanisms on structure and dynamics of fusion pores (Porosomes) in live pig GH-secreting cells were revealed using AFM, gold-labeling techniques and TEM. This is an exciting area of research in cell secretion and changes our understanding of how hormones, enzymes and secretory products from cells are released through the plasma membrane of the cell. This fundamental cellular process allows cell-cell communication, such as neurotransmission, immune response, and a variety of important physiological functions. Any disturbance in cell secretion is known to result in numerous diseases. These discoveries have profound impact on our understanding of the cell, and on human and animal health and disease.

Our research laboratories in the 1960s were on ground floor of Curtiss Hall until the move to the new Kildee Hall in 1965 that doubled in size in 2000. The animal physiology section was fortunate to reside on second floor of the new addition after 30 years in the basement of Kildee Hall. During this period, the animal science department was administered by outstanding leaders in animal agriculture:  Leslie E. Johnson 1954-1967; Lanoy N. Hazel 1967-1973; Solon A. Ewing 1973-1992; Dennis N. Marple 1992-2001; Susan J. Lamont 2001-2003; and Maynard G. Hogberg 2003-the present.

Charles F. Curtiss, the first dean of the College, set the expectation of high achievement in teaching and research in agriculture of which subsequent deans would be called upon to serve as leaders in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My career in endocrinology and physiology of growth and reproduction in farm and laboratory animals has included the teaching of two sections each semester for 37 years of an elective undergraduate course. This contact with undergraduate students allows one to make an impact on their career goals. The teaching of undergraduates is particularly satisfying because of their willingness to learn and their diverse backgrounds from the United States and many foreign countries. This interaction with undergraduates provides an avenue to help counsel those who have aspirations for graduate or professional (i.e., medicine and veterinary medicine) training.

Many of my 71 graduate students and postdoctoral trainees have gone on to stellar careers in their chosen fields. Following is a sampling of former students and their current positions. It is evident that the influence of Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has had an impact nationally and internationally due to the positions of leadership held by these persons and many others.

The success of my students is the greatest satisfaction to me.