Morrie Craig, professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine is the 2010 recipient of the International Service Award. This award is given to recognize exemplary, on-going contributions of OSU faculty and staff to the internationalization of the university by enhancing student, faculty, and staff awareness and participation in international education, research, and related activities.
Craig has been working with the Japanese government over concerns about toxins in straw that have caused disease in cattle. He rebuilt a testing laboratory to allow importers, exporters and farmers to know what levels of alkaloids were in feed so that high doses of toxins were not introduced to cattle, and established threshold levels of the toxins below which animals would not be adversely affected. These values have been accepted and used worldwide.
A nominator said, “Dr. Craig has consistently provided strong leadership, applied research and service testing, international and community outreach, and a continual willingness to serve and to educate members of our industry in Oregon, in Japan and wherever needed. He has made extremely essential contributions to our grass straw export industry’s ability to meet safe feed requirements in Japan and most importantly, to enjoy a strong reputation in Japan for being responsible stewards and suppliers.”