Candidate Information
Nominees For Director (to serve a two-year term – the candidate with the highest vote count will also serve as the chair of the 2010 Reciprocal Meat Conference)
Robert J. Delmore Jr.
Associate Professor, California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California
AMSA Activities
Endowment Committee, 1999-2002; Budget Committee, 2001-2004; Western Science Conference Planning Committee, 2001-2004; Foundation Distance Learning Task Force, 2004-2007; Knowledge Dissemination Committee, 2004-2006; QA-101 Task Force, 2007-2008; Achievement Award Selection Committee, 2007-2009; Chair, AMSA-NMA Processing Technology Conference
Member since 1991
Based on your experience with AMSA and your knowledge of the current state of meat science and the meat industry, what do you believe is the biggest challenge facing this association?
One of the biggest challenges facing this association is continued growth in both number and involvement of professional members. The recent growth in professional members is very promising. Every effort should be made to continue to evaluate methods to retain student members as professional members. Additionally, as our membership grows we must evaluate the scope of services needed to benefit all members.
As a potential AMSA officer what would be the most important thing for the next Board of Directors to do?
The next board must focus on communication and implementation for continued success.
Communication - AMSA has done an excellent job of communicating to the membership regarding ongoing activities and topics of interest. It is critical that we look for opportunities to have members communicate on issues pertinent to meat science and the related industries. Our industry needs credible experts to speak out and provide scientific information on issues that affect the meat industry. This is not new to AMSA but I believe that a stronger effort in this area is critical to combat the increasing amount of erroneous information.
Implementation - A solid AMSA structure exists and the plan is well laid out: the key is sustained implementation. I believe that the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan are certainly achievable. During the implementation it is critical that we stay on task while watching for needed changes that will improve the organization and better serve our members. In addition, I strongly believe there are a variety of organizations we can partner with to maximize our effectiveness and better utilize our limited resources.