Chris Calkins, professor of animal science, is retiring after 40 years of service to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. A celebration of his retirement will be 3 to 5 p.m. May 26 in the Nebraska East Union.

Calkins was on the meat science faculty in the Department of Animal Science from 1981 to 2021. He is an internationally recognized expert on beef quality and was an outstanding student adviser and teacher. His research has been highly influential and his muscle profiling work, which established new cutting procedures for beef, has returned over $1 billion in value to the beef industry. Calkins’ muscle profiling research team was awarded the International Meat Secretariat World Prize for Meat Science and Technology in 2004, the only time the prize has been awarded to a scientist in the United States.

Calkins has also been a highly influential mentor and teacher both in the classroom as well as for learners throughout the world. He has mentored 55 graduate students and will be honored with the American Meat Science Association Mentorship Recognition in 2022.

He and his students have received numerous grants, made discoveries resulting in patents, and have a plethora of publications in peer-reviewed, scientific journals. Calkins has won numerous awards, including highest honors from both AMSA and the American Society of Animal Science, Educator of the Year by the North American Meat Processors Association, and the Distinguished Service Award from ASTM International.

The retirement celebration is free and open to the public.