C. R. Henderson: Contributions to the Dairy Industry

¹ Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames 50011

Through C. R. Henderson's position and the application of his knowledge, he had a major influence on genetic improvement in dairy cattle beginning in the 1950s. He developed herdmate comparisons in the United States. The fist extensive program using pedigree selection and progeny testing of sires for use in AI was because of his suggestion. This program established the direction of dairy cattle improvement that still continues. He developed BLUP and discovered how to write the inverse of an additive genetic relationship matrix, A^–1, without inverting the matrix. These accomplishments had a major impact on evaluation methods of dairy cattle and other livestock species. Use of BLUP and A^–1 are standards for evaluation of breeding values all over the world. His pioneering work in estimation of components of variance and analyses of unbalanced data were also of primary importance for animal evaluation and many other applications. Henderson made a major contribution to mankind.

Key Words: Henderson, C. R. • legacy • dairy industry

Submitted on August 30, 1990
Accepted on December 3, 1990

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