Horses - International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation News - May 2001 - Equiworld

International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation News

Officers Named for International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation
Hillman Honored for Leadership by International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation
Collins, Ensminger Named to Hall of Fame by International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation
Gattis Named Chairman of International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation
Kimball named Executive Director of International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

Officers Named for International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

(Houston, TX) A slate of officers and five new members of the Board of Directors were recently elected to provide leadership to the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation (ISEF) as it enters the millennium with a revised mission and ambitious goals.

Elected to lead the organization as Chairman was Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) General Manager Dan Gattis.

³I have had the privilege of serving this organization for a number of years and this is perhaps one of the more critical times in this history of the organization,² said Gattis. ³It is our mission to serve the livestock industry by providing forums on critical issues impacting the industry, such as food safety, industry cohesion and genetic technology. We have outlined a number of goals that will further position the ISEF in a leadership role in the livestock industry and we welcome industry involvement in our growth and positive impact.²

A graduate of Southwest Texas State University and of the Advanced Management Program of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Gattis has served as HLSR General Manager since 1984. A fellow of Class XV of the Houston chapter of the American Leadership Forum, Gattis has achieved certification as C.F.E. (Certified Fair Executive) from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions and is the recipient of numerous awards. He and his wife, Karen, and son Dan, own and operate a small ranching operation in Williamson County, Texas.

Elected as Vice Chairman was Neil Jahnke of Gouldtown, Saskatchewan, Canada. Jahnke and his wife, Marilyn, manage an extensive cow-calf yearling operation that supports 1,200 cows. He has been actively involved with a number of cattlemen¹s groups, including serving as chairman of the Western Beef Development Centre, past president of the Canada Beef Export Federation, Chairman of the Canadian Cattlemen¹s Foreign Trade Committee and has served on that group¹s Executive Committee. He was honored with an honorary life membership in the Agricultural Institute in Canada.

> Elected to serve as Secretary was John W. ³Jack² Allen, PhD, of East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Allen is a professor of food management at Michigan State University and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Hormel Foods Corporation and Alliance Foods (Save-A-Lot Stores franchisee and controlled-label food brokerage firm). He received his Masters and PhD in food marketing at Cornell University. In 2000, Dr. Allen received the John D. and Dortha J. Withrow Teacher/Scholar Award, the highest honor accorded annually by the Graduate School of Business at Michigan State University.

Re-elected to the position of Treasurer was John P. Collins of Larkspur, California. The senior partner in Collins & Company, LLC, a securities firm, Collins has held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange since 1962 and is one of only 1,366 members in the world. He has conducted numerous clinics, demonstrations and exhibitions in the Southwestern United States and has coached several vaulting teams (the art of gymnastics on a moving horse), as well as produced a popular video ³Creating Partnership Getting Along with Horses.² Collins has been an integral part of the International Livestock Congress for more than 24 years and is its longest serving director.

Also elected to the Board of Directors were Marshall Copithorne, CL Ranches Ltd, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; John Josserand, AZTX Feed and Cattle, Hereford, Texas; Russell Laird, Kraft Foods, Washington, D.C.; Norman Luba, North American Equine Ranching Information Council, Louisville, Kentucky and John Sykes, HLSR, Houston, Texas.

The ISEF was formed in 1986 as an outgrowth of the International Stockmen¹s School founded in 1942 by the late Dr. M.E. Ensminger. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, its primary purpose is to manage the International Livestock Congress, held each year during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where representatives from around the world gather to discuss relevant and critical global issues facing the beef and horse industries.

Hillman Honored for Leadership by International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

(Houston, TX) Hal Hillman, president and chairman of the board of The Hillman Company, was honored by the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation (ISEF) with its Outstanding Leadership Award during the International Livestock Congress held earlier this year.

A past chairman of the board and former president of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR), Hillman has played an active role in stimulating the education of consumers and young people regarding the importance of agriculture, and in particular, the beef industry, in the United States. ³Hal Hillman is perhaps one of the most generous people have had the pleasure of knowing,² said Dan Gattis, ISEF Chairman and General Manager of the HLSR.

³It has been through his leadership that many of the programs that now educate literally thousands of young people have been developed. He has given selflessly of his time and personal resources to be a part of several major groups in the beef industry and has become a vital link between those groups and government decision makers.²

Hillman, who is an honorary member of the board of directors of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, has served on several strategic committees within that group as well as with the National Cattleman¹s Beef Association. A graduate of the University of Texas, Hillman¹s companies include real estate holdings, truck and auto leasing and beverage distribution, in addition to the Hillman Land and Cattle Company, a cattle ranching operation in Frio, Gonzales and Bastrop counties with an emphasis on stocker cattle and Brahman-Hereford cow-calf production.

Collins, Ensminger Named to Hall of Fame by International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

(Houston, TX) John Collins and the late Dr. M.E. Ensminger were inducted into the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation (ISEF) Hall of Fame during the International Livestock Congress held earlier this year. Collins, of Larkspur, California, is the senior partner in Collins & Company, LLC and since 1962, has held a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, one of only 1,366 members in the world. Far removed from the world of securities, however, is Collins¹ true passion horses. Collins developed an early love for horses as boy in urban New York but did not fulfill his lifelong dream of working with horses until he moved to California in 1956 to become the secretary/treasurer of a company that managed several ranches. There he was able to work with horses and became well known for his humane management and training techniques.

He has conducted numerous clinics, demonstrations and exhibitions in the Southwestern United States and has coached several vaulting teams (the art of gymnastics on a moving horse), as well as produced a popular video ³Creating Partnership Getting Along with Horses.² Collins has been an integral part of the International Livestock Congress for more than 24 years and is its longest serving director.

Also honored was the late Dr. M.E. Ensminger, founder of the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation. Dr. Ensminger is a name known to most animal scientists, many agriculturalists and a multitude of stockmen in the United States and around the world. An author of numerous books and a lecturer, Ensminger became known as one of the most prolific educators and writers of the 20th century. He taught at four universities, authored 22 books on six different specie of animals, authored more than 500 livestock bulletins, papers and articles and was the founder of Ag-Tech Schools, first conducted in the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, as well as in a number of third-world countries.

³It is not an exaggeration to say that the ISEF would not exist if not for the contributions of these two men,² said Dan Gattis, ISEF Chairman. ³This organization as well as the livestock industry owes a debt of gratitude for all they have done to educate the public and bring to the forefront the issues affecting the livestock industry.²

Gattis Named Chairman of International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

(Houston, TX) Dan Gattis, General Manager of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR), was recently elected Chairman of the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation (ISEF) during its spring board meeting held in Dallas, Texas, April 30.

A long history of service to the livestock industry precedes Gattis¹ role as chairman beginning with involvement in high school FFA projects to becoming only the third General Manager in HSLR history in 1984. A graduate of Southwest Texas State University and of the Advanced Management Program of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Gattis has served on many influential boards in the livestock and exposition industries.

³I am pleased to have the opportunity to serve the ISEF at an exciting time in its growth and a critical one in its role to provide a forum for discussion regarding issues facing the livestock industry,² he said. ³I am particularly pleased to be working with the number of influential people on the board who are affiliated with many of the leading groups in agriculture.²

Gattis is the recipient of numerous distinguished service awards and was named The Outstanding Agriculturalist by the College of Agricultural Sciences of Texas Tech University in 1992. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initiative, and is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Beefmaster Breeders United.

Gattis and his wife, Karen, aown and manage a small cattle operation, Gattis Cattle Company, LLC, in Williamson County, Texas, along with son, Dan, who is an assistant district attorney in Willliamson County. Son, Brent, is a staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture in Washington, D.C.

Kimball named Executive Director of International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation

(Houston, TX) Julie J. Kimball of Fort Worth, Texas, was recently named Executive Director of the International Stockmen¹s Educational Foundation (ISEF) during its spring board meeting held in Dallas, Texas, April 30.

Kimball, owner of Latigo Associates, a marketing and promotional planning consulting firm, served as a member of the board in 2000-2001 and was the group¹s equine forum chairman during the 2001 International Livestock Congress.

³Julie¹s experience in the horse industry and in association management was particularly attractive to our organization in our search for an executive director,² said Dan Gattis, ISEF Chairman. ³As chairman of the Equine Forum, she orchestrated a dynamic program that produced the largest number of attendees in the horse segment¹s history.² ³I have certainly grown very passionate about the goals and mission of the organization,² said Kimball, in accepting the role. ³Selfishly, I am excited about the prospect of working with some of the best minds in agriculture today in both the beef and horse industries.²

Kimball is a 1984 graduate of Texas Tech University where she received a B.S. in Agriculture Education with a specialization in Agriculture Communications. Following a three-year stint as a field editor for the Quarter Horse Journal, Kimball served for seven years as the Director of Youth Activities and AJQHA for the American Quarter Horse Association in Amarillo, Texas, where the youth organization grew from 13,000 to 33,000 members. In 1995, she joined the American Association of Equine Practitioners in Lexington, Kentucky, as its Director of Communications. She returned to Texas in 1998 as Director of Market Development for the American Paint Horse Association before forming her own company in January 2001.

Kimball has served on a number of boards, including the American Youth Horse Council and the Animal Welfare Council, and was a program designer for the Horse Industry Alliance. She also volunteers in the Fort Worth community for the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center, as well as Imagination Celebration, promoting the value of literacy and the arts to public schools. She was honored in 1994 with the AYHC Distinguished Service Award and was named an Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1990 and 1992.

The ISEF was formed in 1986 as an outgrowth of the International Stockmen¹s School founded in 1942 by the late Dr. M.E. Ensminger. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, its primary purpose is to manage the International Livestock Congress, held each year during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where representatives from around the world gather to discuss relevant and critical global issues facing the beef and horse industries.