Congratulations Dr. Richard Pursley the first in the Department of Animal Science to receive the prestigious National Association of Animal Breeders Award for 2018. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the artificial insemination industry. An excerpt from his nomination letter captures some of Dr. Pursley’s accomplishments: “Dr. Richard Pursley co-developed with Dr. Milo Wiltbank what is now the world’s most widely used ovulation synchronization protocol they called, “Ovsynch”. Proof of the widespread interest in this technology is easy to demonstrate. For example, a recent Google search for the term “Ovsynch” resulted in 51,700 hits! Moreover, according to Hoard’s Dairyman, Ovsynch is one of the best and most economical timed AI programs ever developed for the dairy industry. In 2007, the impact of Dr. Pursley’s research and extension programs was recognized as one of four CSREES projects (selected from 400) with the greatest impact in U.S. agriculture and featured on the CSREES website. In addition, Dr. Pursley’s research primarily on Ovsynch and its improvements has been cited >5000 times according to Google Scholar. His seminal 1995 paper on Ovsynch was listed recently as one of 100 most influential (no. 7 in all of reproductive biology) science papers you should read before you die. The Ovsynch technology revolution has indeed caused a paradigm shift in applied reproductive research in dairy cattle.”