First unveiled in fall 2020, the Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery (MSABD) building is a state-of-the-art facility for research, teaching, and outreach. It contains a USDA-inspected plant for meat production, an animal biologics preparation room, a high-security biosafety lab, and a retail store called Bucky’s Varsity Meats. (See The Future Holds No Limits for Meat Science at CALS, Grow, spring 2021.) The building is also home to the MSABD program in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, which offers exceptional training opportunities for students, staff, and industry professionals.

The MSABD program is now looking for ways to help more students benefit from the building’s high-tech environment and maximize their exposure to modern meat processing, food safety, and career opportunities. The Kauffman Experiential Learning Fund is a primary driver behind this goal.

What Are Animal Biologics?
Animal biologics are molecules or tissues extracted from non-meat tissues during animal and poultry harvest to be repurposed for animal or human health benefits, such as anticoagulants or more effective burn wound dressings.

For more than 30 years, Robert Kauffman MS’58, PhD’61 was a professor of meat and animal science in CALS, where he was an outstanding teacher and inspiring mentor. He was perhaps best known for taking students on field trips to meat businesses in Madison, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Chicago, which allowed them to speak with industry professionals and observe industry practices. Kauffman’s main motivation was to show his students the application of their textbook and lecture knowledge. His students used this experiential learning and his inspiration to develop leadership roles in the business and science of the meat and livestock industries.

“It wasn’t so much what Dr. Kauffman taught people but how he taught people to think,” says Al Gunderson BS’77, MS’79, who studied with Kauffman as an undergraduate and graduate student. He says Kauffman’s out-of-the-box thinking and unique take on animal science classes created a long-lasting impact on his students and prepared them for their careers.

Gunderson recently retired as vice president of Vita Plus, a Madison-based animal feed and technology company. He remembers when Kauffman took his class to the Oscar Mayer facility in Madison to see the full picture of the meat processing industry. The experience ignited Gunderson’s passion for agricultural business.

“[Kauffman] particularly enjoyed providing unusual kinds of learning experiences,” says Dan Schaefer BS’73, MS’75, an emeritus professor of animal nutrition who studied with Kauffman. “He always thought that the learning outside of the class- room was just as important — if not more important — than simply lecturing to students.”

Kauffman passed away in October 2022. To acknowledge and sustain his distinctive teaching style, the Kauffman Experiential Learning Fund was created to support undergraduates with science or economics interests in gaining hands-on experiences in meat science, meat animal production, animal biologics, food safety, and business — both in the MSABD building and beyond. The fund will support students through internships, special projects of practical importance, and extracurricular mentor- ships to aid students in building knowledge and networks for their future careers.

“A goal of this fund is to introduce students to the different sides of meat science,” says Steve Ricke PhD’89, director of the MSABD program and professor of animal and dairy sciences. “They will learn what it means to manage a project and find out what works for them in this field, beyond the classroom and beyond the laboratory. Introducing students to the concepts of meat science, and then giving them experiences in terms of the real world, is what sets them up for success.”

$1 Million For Students
The Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery program aims to raise $1 million for the Kauffman Experiential Learning Fund by the end of 2024. If you would like to help the program achieve its goal, contact Annie Engebretson at andrea.engebretson @supportuw.org or 608-206-1244.