Leading animal science researcher, educator and animal nutrition expert.
1887 -1958 | Artist: Othmar J. Hoffler (1893-1954)
Impact & Accomplishments
A gifted student, Frank B. Morrison spent three years teaching after high school, to earn tuition funds for the University of Wisconsin, where he enrolled in 1907. During his sophomore year, he applied to assist Dean William Arnon Henry with revisions of the seminal textbook, Feeds and Feeding, a project he would continue through multiple editions over four decades, becoming the sole author after Henry’s death.
Morrison received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural chemistry in 1911 and began teaching at the university. A full professor by 1919, Morrison also served as assistant director of the agricultural experiment station there, from 1915 to 1927. He was also secretary and president of the American Society of Animal Nutrition early in his career.
In 1927, Professor Morrison moved to New York to direct the agricultural experiment stations at Ithaca and Geneva, and the next year, was named head of the Department of Animal Husbandry at Cornell University. A revered teacher, Professor Morrison attracted many graduate students and many international students to Cornell, and he directed a wide variety of feeding and nutrition investigations. In 1938, Morrison established a division of animal breeding and artificial insemination. After reducing his teaching schedule (and accepting no salary) to allow more time for his research, Morrison retired in 1955.
He had established the American Society of Animal Science Morrison Award—a cash prize for outstanding research—and an endowed fellowship at Cornell, as lasting contributions to scientific work in livestock production. His alma mater and the University of Vermont each awarded him honorary doctorates.
Did You Know?
The Frank B. Morrison Hall was dedicated September 1961 at Cornell University.