EAAP Awards, 2003
Number 49
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Leroy Fellowship Award: Dr. Yves Chilliard, France

The 2004 Leroy Fellowship Award is given to Dr. Yves Chilliard, INRA, France in recognition of his outstanding contributions to animal science. Yves Chilliard is head of the research group "Adipose Tissue and Milk Lipids" in the Herbivore Research Unit at INRA in Clermont-Ferrand, Theix, France. At the same time he is deputy head of the "Animal Husbandry and Nutrition Department". He was born in 1951. He graduated as engineer at the National College of Agronomy in Paris in 1973, and received his doctorate at the Paris-6 University in 1985.

In his research Yves Chilliard has made outstanding contributions to the field of animal nutrition and physiology. He has demonstrated the rare ability of being able to combine fundamental and practical aspects, spanning from molecular biology, and physiology to practical feeding. His research interests have included many important aspects of animal science, but studies relating to lipid metabolism have been the main focus. Specific topics include: ruminant adipose and mammary tissue lipogenesis, ;leptin gene expression, the hormonal and nutritional regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis, physiology and body composition of dairy and non-productive cattle sheep and dromedary, the use of dietary lipid supplements for dairy cows and goats, milk fat biochemistry as related to nutritional and sensory quality of milk.

A very important and influential part of Yves contribution to animal science has been his ability to write very thorough and comprehensive scientific reviews within his field of expertise. This part of his work is highly appreciated by his colleagues, and there is no doubt that his reviews have been widely used as basis for practical recommendations all over the world. Overall he has authored or co-authored 160 peer reviewed papers, including not less that 72 reviews. He has presented over 40 invited papers at conferences and international scientific and technological meetings, including 3 main reports at several EAAP meetings. He has also given a large number of lectures to students, technicians and engineers, and he has been advisor for a large number master, Ph. D and post doc. students.

Yves Chilliard is vice president of the Scientific Committee of the French Nutrition Society (since 2001) and he has been vice president of the French Association of Nutrition (1996-99). Since 1995 he has been an Honorary Research Fellow of the Hannah Research Institute in Scotland. He is member of the American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association. Presently he is secretary of the Physiology Commission of EAAP.

Yves Chilliard is clearly a very worthy recipient of The Leroy Fellowship

Distinguish Service Award: Maurice Bichard, UK

Maurice Bichard has been and still is a major influence and driving force in the United Kingdom's animal agriculture industry. While pursuing a meaningful commercial career, particularly in the pig improvement sector for which he was awarded the prestigious Order of the British Empire in 1993, he managed to retain, world-wide, very close contacts with the leading animal production and research institutions, universities and international organisations. In particular, since the early '90s, he was an important link to Central and Eastern Europe and an influential component of EAAP's CEE Livestock Production Task Force and the later Contact Group.

Born in 1935 in Guernsey (channel isles) he kept, right through his career, a personalised contact with this cradle of dairy cattle breeding and has been culturally linked to the isle's traditional livestock farming history; he still proudly keeps a second passport , that of Guernsey, and interacts extensively with the local agriculture society.

His activities in the UK, from the Meat and Livestock Commission to the Agricultural and Food Research Council and from the Watchdog Committee on Legislative Developments in Animal Biotechnology which he chaired for six years to the British Society of Animal Production, are impressive; so is also his national and international awards and honours list. For us he will though always be the pioneer scientist from the private business sector who successfully entered the EAAP Council reminding us that our Association to be successful must rest on the tripod of research and the academics, the public authorities and the private business and the profession. It is interesting that this is how the founding fathers meant it to be more than 50 years ago then we lost the link, to find it now hopefully again through Maurice's calm but impressively convincing approach.

His teaching activities extend from Australia and New Zealand to Eastern Europe and from North America to Southern Africa, a truly versatile personality dedicated to the farming community not only professionally but also through his vast culture and hobbies such as rural history and basket collecting!

Very early in his career he understood the importance of the British Isles being fully integrated in the European continent; his belief was to a great extend implemented by his involvement and major actions within EAAP. Since 1964 he attended 27 out of a possible 30 annual meetings and actively participated in the programmes developed by both the Mediterranean and Eastern European Working Groups. After 15 years involvement with the Genetic Commission he very successfully chaired the Organising Committee to the memorable Edinburgh Annual Meeting and moved to Council where he loyally and constructively served since 1991 as Member, then Vice-President and Auditor.

During my years as Secretary General and Executive Vice-President few people gave me the solid and friendly advice that he was always prepared to share. If he was a Frenchman I would call him "un grand serviteur de l'état" and in the 1700's he would be classified as "un homme universel"; always ready to serve altruistically society and his colleagues.

To a Mediterranean he might appear as having too much of a British phlegm but he is certainly one of the most Mediterranean Britons I have ever met, maybe his small island origin helps..., Guernsey being not bigger than Santorini, Capri or Minorca.

The Council of EAAP has the honour of proposing Maurice Bichard for the 2003 Distinguished Service Award with the wish that he will continue helping the Association with his vast experience, knowledge and proverbial voluntarism, as he did since his retirement in June 1995. To you my friend, and Hannah, our best wishes for an active future.

Jean Boyazoglu
Former Executive Vice-President

Distinguished Service Award: Salvatore Casu, Italy

Salvatore Casu was born on the beautiful island of Sardinia, in the village of Berchidda, on March 11, 1936. He was trained in Agriculture in 1958 at the University of Piacenza, and continued his formation first at the Institute of Genetic in Pavia and then at the "Station de Génétique Animale" in Jouy-en-Josas, France.

Salvatore Casu developed his entire brilliant career in the "Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario per la Sardegna" (IZCS) from 1961 to last March 2003, acting as Director for more than 30 years. Under his direction IZCS become one of the major research centre in the world for dairy sheep, in particular contributing to the diffusion of the Sarda breed in the Mediterranean basin and to the genetic improvement of dairy sheep.

He restructured his institute in an efficient and modern way developing it into four main sectors: sheep and cattle breeding in the Mediterranean basin; genetic improvement; automatic milking; artificial insemination.

Salvatore Casu instigated the institute to co-operate with relevant international research centres such as the: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), France; Agricultural Research Organisation, The Volcani Centre, Bet Dagan, Israel; Department of Agriculture, Elsenburg, Western Cape, South Africa; Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ), Spain; International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies; Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Salvatore Casu promoted numerous research projects, some of which he was personally responsible for such as the ones by Agrimed from CEE, the "Réseau Européen Ovin-Caprin" from FAO, and the "Sheep Group" from CIHEAM. The main research results obtained due to his personal contribution are: optimisation of selection schemes of the Sarda breed; diffusion of the artificial insemination in sheep; technical optimisation in cross breeding; formation of synthetic lines in sheep; automatic milking (Salvatore Casu was the first to use it in Italy).

His personal scientific production is composed of more than two hundred publications on reputed national and international reviews/journals.

Salvatore Casu was a brilliant researcher, excellent manager, deep expert of Mediterranean ruminants sector and also a university lecturer. He held courses at: School for Agronomic specialisation at the University of Sassari; Specialisation courses for zootechnics at Formez (Napoli); Courses on the reproduction efficiency, University of Sassari and Bologna).

Due to his qualities and his competence Salvatore Casu has been called upon to hold numerous roles in national and international organisms such as:

1983-1998; the Presidency of the Sheep Subcommittee of the International Committee for the control of milk production and the vice presidency of the EAAP Sheep and Goat Commission.

His numerous collaborators, who benefited by his leadership, have respect and great affection for him.

The Council of EAAP and I have therefore the great pleasure to propose Dr. Salvatore Casu for the 2003 Distinguished Service Award.

Alessandro Nardone
Former President, EAAP

Rommert Politiek Best Poster Award

The Best Poster Award of Euro 500 at EAAP Rome in 2003 was Nutrition N4.18 with the title: "Relationship between nutrition and reproductive efficiency in ostrich: yolk fatty acid content and fertility". It was won by Claudia Sussi and co-workers. The judges made the following comments:

The poster was selected as best because it is attractive and informative.
The title, the objectives, and the conclusions are clear, and it has a good use of visuals.
The layout and use of colours is appealing, and the poster is balanced.
The text is brief and easy to understand, and the font size and type mode the poster easy to read.

EAAP scholarships, Rome 2003

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