Especially gratifying to me is that, as our student enrollments and faculty teaching loads continue to rise, quality of teaching has not been sacrificed. Three of our faculty and a departmental graduate student have received prestigious teaching awards. Our faculty and graduate students have also been honored with major research awards. In this issue you will read about some new faces added to the Animal Science family, and about some old friends to whom we have said good-bye. You will also read about some generous gifts from departmental friends who are helping us to fulfill our missions in teaching, 

The department soon will celebrate the completion of our new Swine Facility, a more than two-year project that will take our swine teaching and research from the campus core to a site adjacent to the Beef Feedlot and Feed Mill. Departmental plans to build a new Feed Mill, a new Dairy Cattle Facility and a new Pavilion continue with the help of the Animal Science Development Board, a group of alumni and friends who work to support and promote our academic programs. Our planning efforts toward new animal facilities are being aided by a grant of funds from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. I hope that in our next issue of Highlights we can report on significant progress toward gaining approval and funding for these new animal facilities.  

The Department of Animal Science is committed to serving our students and our stakeholders throughout the state. If ever there is something that we can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me (telephone: (530) 752-1252; e-mail: gbanderson@ucdavis.edu). I hope that the rest of the year 2000 brings you prosperity and good health.