Ralph E. Erb died of Multiple Myeloma in November of 1983, in St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. He was born May 1917 in Illinois and married Rosetta “Posy” Roodhouse in 1941. Dr. Erb was a graduate of the University of Illinois in 1940 with highest honors in Agriculture. He earned advanced degrees in Reproduction Physiology and Endocrinology in 1947 from Purdue University. In 1947 he joined the faculty of Washington State University, where he conducted research and taught in the Dairy Science Department. In 1962, he returned to Purdue where he worked until his retirement in 1978. Dr. Erb’s career was devoted to teaching, administrative assignments and research in artificial insemination, endocrinology, and the physiology of reproduction and milk secretion. He contributed to the identification of female sex steroids and their metabolites in cattle and swine, to description of hormonal profiles associated with normal and abnormal reproduction, and to interrelationships among hormones, reproductive traits and environmental variables. He was a member of Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Zeta, Sigma Xi, Dairy Shrine, The Endocrine Society, American Dairy Science Association, American Society of Animal Science and was elected a Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1956. He was also involved in the dairy industry in various other capacities throughout his career.
Award Requirements
Interest from this fund will provide one or more fellowship(s) in animal sciences. Eligibility is restricted to incoming graduate students with animal science education backgrounds working toward an advanced degree in animal science with emphasis on dairy cattle endocrinology/reproduction or nutrition.