Frank X. Ogasawara, Professor Emeritus of Avian Sciences, died of cancer on June 8, 2002, at the age of 88. He was born in San Diego in 1913 and raised in Battle Mountain, Nevada. After receiving a bachelor's degree in poultry science in 1949 from UC Berkeley, he attained his doctoral degree in comparative physiology at UC Davis in 1957. In 1959, he joined the faculty here as assistant professor in the Department of Poultry Husbandry. He remained in the department (later renamed Avian Sciences) until he retired in 1983.

Dr. O, as he was known to his students, was a pioneer in developing methods to artificially inseminate domestic turkeys, now standard practice for most of the 250 million turkeys raised in the US annually. Selecting for large breast size in turkeys had rendered males too large and clumsy to mate naturally and without injury to females. For many years, Dr. O taught turkey breeders around the world how to apply his artificial insemination technique. He also discovered that female turkeys are able to store viable sperm in their oviducts for weeks after a single fertile mating. Dr. O wrote more than 80 scholarly publications.

In 1972, Dr. O established the California Raptor Center at UC Davis. The center cares for birds of prey that have been injured in the wild. It also has an important educational function by providing work opportunities for student interns and volunteers, and it regularly hosts many visitors and school groups interested in hawks and owls.

Dr. O's career was marked by many awards, including the National Turkey Federation's Outstanding Research Award in 1966 for his work on avian artificial insemination and the Poultry Science Association's Ralston Purina Outstanding Teacher Award in 1976. In 1982, he was named a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association and in 1991, an honorary member of the Japan Zootechnical Society.

Dr. O was a selfless mentor and volunteer in both his professional and private life. He shared his research expertise with counterparts in Japan, Scotland, Brazil and China. He was chair of a USDA-sponsored national turkey research study committee (1978-79) and general chair of the Poultry Science Association's annual meeting at UC Davis in 1982. He was the major professor for four Ph.D. and nine M.S. students and was an outstanding undergraduate advisor for more than 500 students in his career. Many campus and community groups benefited from his volunteer work, including the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Davis Chapter of AARP and the Catholic Community at the Davis Newman Center.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Kay Ogasawara of Davis; two daughters, Pam Ogasawara of Urbana, Md., and Patty Sunui of Sacramento; a son, Paul, of Sebastopol, and five grandchildren.

Approximately  $10,000 has been donated to the Kratzer, Ogasawara and Vohra Scholarship Fund in memory of Dr. Ogasawara. Income from this endowment is used to provide scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students studying avian sciences. To make a donation to this endowment fund, please make your check payable to the UC Regents and send it to the Department of Animal Science, One Shields Ave., University of California, Davis, CA 95616.