Dr. Leon J. Spicer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in animal science from the University of Minnesota and University of Idaho, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in dairy science from Michigan State University in 1984. He was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University in 1988 and is currently Professor at OSU. Dr. Spicer’s research has contributed to our understanding of intra-ovarian control of ovarian function in farm animals. His laboratory was one of the first to describe the effects of IGF1, leptin, and other metabolites on steroidogenesis in granulosa and theca cells. Using microarray techniques, Dr. Spicer and collaborators have also discovered several unique genes involved in ovarian follicular development in pigs and cattle. Dr. Spicer is a prolific researcher, having published over 520 articles and abstracts, of which 115 were published during the past 10 years. He and his wife, Dr. Maria Spicer, have one son and two daughters.