Juan Medrano, Animal Science professor, recently traveled to his home country to receive the 2001 Medal of Science and Technology of Guatemala in recognition of his research achievements. The vice president of Guatemala and the head of Congress presented him with the award. Dr. Medrano was the fifth person to be awarded this medal, which is given annually as a competitive honor for which candidates are nominated by fellow scientists.

The award ceremony was held on July 21, 2002, in Guatemala City at a formal presentation by the Guatemalan Congress. Juan presented a short scientific talk that gave an overview of the significance of genomics in modern biology, including descriptions of his research on the genetics of animal growth with the high-growth mouse and the modification of milk composition. The formal ceremony was followed by a social gathering attended by Juan's mother, his wife Barbara, family members, close friends, representatives from the Guatemalan universities, members of the Commission of Science Technology and three of the previous recipients of the medal

Dr. Medrano was born in Guatemala City and grew up associated with agriculture and cattle farming. He studied agriculture at the Panamerican School of Agriculture in El Zamorano, Honduras. Juan graduated first in his class and obtained a scholarship to study at UC Davis where he completed a B.S. in Animal Genetics, an M.S. in Animal Science and  Ph.D. in Genetics in 1975. Upon completion of his Ph.D., Juan returned to Guatemala for 10 years where he taught at various universities, completed post-doctoral study at the Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama and managed cattle, corn, rice, and sugar cane on his family's farm for approximately five years. He returned to UC Davis in 1985 as an Assistant Professor of Animal Genetics to develop a program in Physiological and Molecular Genetics. He and his wife Barbara have three children, Feliza, Antonio and Juan Miguel.