Dr. Gary Bennett grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa where he learned to appreciate animal variation and organizations that support producers. He received a B.S. from Iowa State and a Ph.D. from Ohio State emphasizing animal breeding and statistics. After a post-doc at the University of Nebraska and a scientist position in New Zealand, he has been at the USDA, ARS, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE, for 35 years, including 30 years as Research Leader of 4 research units. His research has been broad, involving four species, statistical analyses, systems, linkage analyses, reproduction, and carcass traits. He has emphasized how cattle selection experiments and mathematical models can contribute to a better understanding of genetics and physiology. He is a 45-year member of ASAS, was Genetics Division editor for the Journal of Animal Science and received the Rockefeller Prentice Animal Breeding and Genetics Award. He and wife Betsy have two children and two grandchildren.