Greetings to the ARPAS membership:

I certainly enjoyed seeing many of you during the recent joint Animal and Dairy Science convention in New Orleans. Renewing old friendships and making new ones is the item that I enjoy the most about the annual meetings.

ARPAS has grown and matured as an organization. Initial concerns about survival have been bridged and the organization is poised to offer tremendous opportunities for the membership. Recently you have received information concerning liability and other insurance available through your affiliation with ARPAS. This reality was initiated by a desire of the membership for ARPAS to assist in locating such an opportunity. In short, the membership asked and through the hard work of Kenneth Cummings and others, ARPAS delivered. Please communicate your thoughts, concerns, and new ideas to myself or other members of the governing council. We are anxious to hear from you.

I am looking forward to serving as your president during the coming year. As I start this year I recall back in 1984 when Dr. Bob Totusek approached me in the hallway of the Animal Science building at Oklahoma State University about joining ARPAS. Those of you that came through OSU understand that Dr. Totusek was very convincing as he mentored graduate students and brand new PhD’s. I hope I can live up to his expectations and the tremendous examples set by past president of this organization.

I wish to personally thank Dr. Bill Braman, the immediate past president of ARPAS, for his outstanding leadership during the past year. ARPAS has grown much stronger as a direct result of his hard work and dedication. During the coming year I hope to attend a number of the Chapter meetings. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can about the “grassroots” of the organization throughout the various parts of the country. We are in the process of finalizing committee assignments. This organization functions from the membership up. We need strong volunteers for the last remaining committee assignments. If you are interested in serving on a committee, please contact me.

Have a safe, joyful, and prosperous year.