As a child, Don Mulvaney couldn’t miss the importance of agriculture. It was all around him. As an adult, he strives to help today’s producers keep agriculture viable through his meat science research and teaching, and he also seeks to ensure agriculture's future.

Mulvaney, associate professor of animal and dairy sciences at Auburn, was reared on a small livestock and row crop farm in Edinburg, Ill. Within this rural community, located in south-central Illinois near Springfield, “agriculture was the heart and lifeblood of the community,” Mulvaney said.

He left there to earn a B.S. degree in agriculture (a double-major with emphasis on animal science and agricultural education), from the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1975. He went on to earn M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1984) degrees in animal science from Michigan State University (MSU), focusing on meat science, muscle biology, and growth and development of livestock.

“My heart has always been in agriculture, and animal science faculty at the University of Illinois, along with key experiences in meat and livestock judging teams, fueled my interests in areas of meat science,” he recalled. “Working closely with the top scientist in the area of animal growth at the time, MSU professor Dr. Robert Merkel, intensified my professional interests in understanding the mechanisms of animal and muscle growth in order to advance animal agriculture and society.”

Mulvaney joined the Auburn faculty in 1983 where he has explored the nuances of muscling and meat production in livestock. His research program looks for ways to influence the optimal production of muscle in meat animals, while also improving consumer acceptance of the final product.

“Examining the factors that affect muscle growth has been our primary research focus,” explained Mulvaney. “Muscle growth and ultimate mass is affected by the number of muscle cells, which is largely determined during gestation, and the diameter of muscle cells, which involves the process of adding muscle proteins after the animal is born.”

His research program has looked at protein-related mechanisms involved in muscle production, especially during gestation. And he also examines other problems and opportunities, such as those in a story on double-muscled cattle breeds. (A Useful Mutation? Growth, Carcass, and Steak Palatibility of Piedmontese- and Hereford-Sired Calves)

In addition to his research, Mulvaney also teaches numerous classes on meat production and animal growth and development. And, he has extended the scope of his teaching to help students develop leadership skills.

“Although universities prepare students for employment, many students don't understand how to adapt to the many changes that will occur in the workplace,” noted Mulvaney. “What students need is the opportunity to learn leadership skills.”

“Agriculture is presently, and will continue to be, faced with substantial change and issues,” continued Mulvaney. “Our students need a more complete understanding of these issues and the inevitable change they will face, and we need students to become emerging leaders—people with leadership attitudes and the skills to work with others effectively and civilly.”

Thanks in part to Mulvaney’s vision and leadership in this area, an Undergraduate Agricultural Student Leadership Development Project is underway that will benefit students and faculty in the Colleges of Agriculture at Auburn, Alabama A&M and Tuskegee universities.

The project, which is funded by the USDA-CSREES Higher Education Grant Program, will forge a long-lasting partnership among faculty and students at Alabama’s 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions to advance core competencies in leadership skills. Mulvaney is directing the project, working in conjunction with faculty at Alabama A&M and Tuskegee.

In his spare time, Mulvaney also finds the energy to teach Sunday school, study biblical leadership, coach youth baseball, and raise Hereford cattle, all of which he finds rewarding. But he remains committed to agriculture and its importance to the world.

“Because of the need of food, fiber, and recreation, agriculture is the lifeblood of our nation and of core socioeconomic importance, yet our citizenry at large take it for granted,” he said. “Advancements in agriculture have contributed significantly to the high quality of life our citizenry enjoys. What a success story for investments in agricultural research! Will it always be this way? Because of the six billion residents currently on this planet, and increases of 250,000 each day, I believe there is NO industry more significant than agriculture.”