Dee Griffin received the 2012 Beef Quality Assurance Educator of the Year at the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention. Nebraska Cattlemen recognized Griffin's dedication to the beef industry and nominated him for this prestigious award.
The BQA Educator of the Year Award recognizes individuals in the beef industry who embrace the BQA philosophy and strive to spread the word on how to produce a high quality beef product.
Griffin, a professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences based at the Great Plains Veterinary Education Center, has been a BQA Certified Trainer for the Nebraska BQA program since its inception in 1987. He currently serves on the Nebraska and National BQA Advisory Board. Griffin has trained educated and certified thousands of beef producers over his career.
His initiation with the BQA program began in the 1970s while he was the veterinarian for Hitch Feeders. Griffin then began working with the Texas Cattle Feeders Association to design a program to prevent antibiotic residue and this was the initial framework for today’s BQA program.
Griffin continues to be an instrumental part of the BQA program and he is appreciated by many for his contributions.
“When we decided to reformat the producer manual to make it easier to use and more condensed, if it were not for Dee, this manual would not be as productive as it has become,” Steve Reynolds, DVM, said. “This manual and his efforts are being used and recognized by many states throughout the USA.”
“He has a God-given talent to not just teach, but to inspire all that will listen to him that the reason we all should follow the guidelines put forth is because it is the “right thing to do”,’ states Jo Bek, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture professor. “He has always worked with my students’ schedules to make sure he can be available to tour with them and give them the benefit of his knowledge. Dee makes them all feel as if they are the most important person in the room at that point in time.”