Former prof not ready for rocking chair
By Bryan Salvage, editor
Bob Rust, well-known professor of meat science and extension meat specialist at Iowa State University, retired Dec. 2 after serving 40 years in academia.
If this move conjures up images of him snoozing against the base of a tree with a fishing pole in hand, think again. Although looking forward to spending more time with his wife of 37 years, Dorothy, and his three children and three grandchildren, Rust is not ready for the rocking chair. He will become a consultant to the meat industry.
After getting his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1951, Rust attended Michigan State University's graduate school and majored in animal nutrition. He was soon assigned to assist Professor Lyman Bratzler (of the Warner-Bratzler Shear test fame) with instructing the university's meat courses.
"Lyman was a dynamic individual, and it didn't take long before I switched majors," Rust says. "By spring of 1952, I was involved in meat [processing]."
After earning his master's degree at Michigan State, Rust helped start a pioneer extension program for meats at the university that essentially worked with retailers. There were only two full-time extension meat specialists in the United States at that time-Rust and Roy Snyder of Texas A&M.
"A lot of the extension meat programs then were devoted to home butchering, quantity barbecuing and some carcass evaluation," Rust says.
Rust joined Iowa State University in 1959 as its first full-time meat extension specialist. The major thrust of the program at that time was carcass evaluation with a slight emphasis on consumer education.
Not much was being done at the university level for meat processors at this time, and he enjoyed pioneering work in this area, says Rust, who also supervised students in master's and Ph.D. in applied research programs.
Rust is most proud of his and Iowa State's work with the meat processing community. "I wish I could take credit for developing educational programs centering on meat processing short courses," he says.
"A lot of meat science prior to [1959] was directed toward carcass evaluation and not processing," he adds. "We helped build a bridge between industry and universities in the processing area. Our processing orientation became very strong, and eventually this concept spread to other universities throughout the country."
Rust is also proud of the university's work in recognizing value differences in meat animal carcasses.
"I remember working with carcass shows in the 1950s. We had pigs and cattle with two inches of fat," Rust chuckles. "We've come a long way."
Ensuring and enhancing food safety will remain a major challenge for the industry, as will the regulatory climate.
"I take a healthy pot-shot at the news media for sensationalizing food-borne illness outbreaks and the knee-jerk responses of some politicians," Rust says. "There's too much intrusion of politics into regulation."
When asked if meat inspection should remain at USDA, Rust says: "I honestly think it's time for a change. We need a good scientific overhaul of the entire inspection system. Science in the meat industry has outstripped the current scientific base of inspection."
In discussing university meat science program challenges, Rust says: "Everybody is having to make due with less. And universities must keep current with industry-and vice versa. Maybe industry should make a more deliberate effort to interface with universities. After all, universities are producing products-students-to go into the industry."
Academia must update teaching and research programs-and perhaps slaughter a few sacred cows along the way, Rust says.
"A lot of traditions get locked into these programs," he adds. "People are reluctant to change. Maybe some of the things we've been teaching and types of courses we have are obsolete and need to be changed."
How does Rust want to be remembered for his work in academia?
"I hope favorably, and for making a contribution toward improving the meat industry," he adds.