Donald Orr Honored as Animal Science Distinguished Alumnus
Donald Orr, Jr., president of JBS United, Inc. has been named Animal Science Distinguished Alumnus.
Donald Orr, Jr., president of JBS United, Inc. has been named Animal Science Distinguished Alumnus.
JBS United, Inc. is based in Sheridan, Indiana, and is a nutrition technology-based company involved in premix and base mix feed production and marketing, swine production and management, grain storage and marketing. Founded in 1956, JBS United operates 7 premix and base mix feed plants in the U.S, along with a premix and base mix plant in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Orr has served as corporate president since 1997, as well as leading the company's Nutrition Division. As President, he is responsible for overseeing the company’s 450 employees and 7 Midwestern feed plants, its four swine research farms and directs the JBS United Swine Record System. He has also been responsible for directing the company’s international marketing activities. Since 1993 he has led JBS United in marketing of JBS United’s products in Asia.
Orr was raised on a purebred swine and grain farm in Tipton County, Indiana. He received his B.S. in Animal Science from Purdue University in 1967, his M.S. in Animal Industry from Penn State University in 1969, and his Ph.D. in Animal Husbandry (swine nutrition) and the Institute of Nutrition from Michigan State University in 1975.
He received a NIH Traineeship while at Michigan State University. In 1974, he joined the Central Soya Company as swine nutritionist. Don then joined the faculty of the Department of Animal Science at Texas Tech University in 1975 and served as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Director of its Swine Research Center.
Orr's responsibilities included teaching undergraduate and graduate nutrition, swine production and management. He served as Block and Bridle Club adviser and coordinated the University’s annual Swine Short Course Program. In 1984, he joined JBS United, Inc. as vice president of nutrition and development and member of its board of directors. His initial responsibilities included swine nutrition research and development, technical services and corporate development.
In 2000, Orr led the formation of the Qingdao, China-based joint venture company, United-Liuhe Co, Ltd. and serves as vice chair of its board of directors. JBS United’s partner, Shandong Liuhe Group Co., Ltd. is a Qingdao-based, privately held agribusiness company that is the third largest feed company the largest poultry processor in China, with $1.2(U.S.$) billion in sales in 2005.
Orr is responsible for JBS United’s research and development group, which today consists of ten animal science and biochemistry Ph.D. professionals. This group is responsible for providing nutrition direction for over 12 million pigs produced in the U.S. Computerized feeding systems, incorporating technology from around the world, are used to conduct feeding trials on pigs from breeding to market at JBS United Research Farms with 14,000 pigs on research trials at any given date.
He has been a member of American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) since 1969 and is a member of American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. He has served on the ASAS Swine Livestock Committee, as its chairman in 1987. He has served as Production and Management Committee chairman for the Southern Section of ASAS, on numerous award committees for Midwest Section and National Meetings of ASAS, and in 1997, was elected to ASAS National Board of Directors for a three year term.
Orr has served on the National Pork Producers Council Research Project Selection Committee, Swine Modeling Committee and Feed Purchasing Manual Committee. He has served on the Board of Directors of the former National Feed Ingredient Association and was chairman of its 1988 Nutrition Institute. He has served four terms on the American Feed Industry Association’s Board of Directors, is currently on the AFIA’S Executive Committee and is a former member of the Agricultural Genetics and Technology Committee for the Indiana Corporation for Science and Technology.
He has been an invited speaker at swine meetings in 18 states, as well as Asia, Europe, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. Don was recognized in 1999 as a Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus by Purdue University and is the recipient of the "Old Masters" Recognition from Purdue University. Don was selected as one of the 25 Pacesetters for the ‘90’s by Hogs Today magazine and has been an invited swine judge at numerous state fairs, National Breed Conferences, National Barrow Show, Ft. Worth Stock Show, National Western Stock Show, and Japan Pork Producer Council (Zenton) sponsored shows.
Orr and his wife, Pam, reside in Noblesville, IN and have two sons, David and Daniel. David, a 1996 graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute and MBA graduate of Purdue’s Krannert School of Management, is completing his PhD program at Clemson University in Bioengineering. Daniel, a Purdue Food Process Engineering graduate, is Process Engineer at Frito Lay’s headquarters in Plano, Texas.
