Endowed role expands Regents Professor Min Du’s investigation of beef quality, animal health

Regents Professor Min Du's research program bridges animal science and biomedicine to serve thousands of livestock producers and families. Du will gain new opportunities to expand his work Oct. 1 when he is officially appointed the Thelma and Max Baxter Endowed Chair in Beef Research and Education at Washington State University.

Created through a 1998 gift from the late couple, avid supporters of the WSU Department of Animal Sciences, the Baxter Chair helps advance ideas that benefit the beef industry. Endowed chair funding will enable new research projects and student support for Du's program.

"It's a strong motivation for me to improve our understanding of cattle development and inspire future generations of beef cattle scientists," said Du, a member of the department since 2011.

Max and Thelma Baxter's involvement in animal science began over three decades ago. The couple founded Baxter Manufacturing, an international commercial oven business, then raised beef cattle at Flying T Ranch, named for Thelma, near Centralia, Washington. Attending a WSU beef workshop in 1994, Max encountered WSU animal scientists Jerry Reeves, Ray Wright, Kris Johnson, and other colleagues who shared an interest in improving beef quality.

"When I found out they had a program going with Wagyu cattle, and WSU expressed an interest in working with me, it gave me a sense of destiny," Max told the university at the time.

The Baxters donated Flying T Ranch to WSU as a beef research center in 1996. In the wake of Max's death in March 1998, their namesake Max and Thelma Baxter Endowment in Animal Sciences was founded. Though Thelma passed away in 2010, the couple's support of the beef industry and its improvement has been sustained through the endowment.

"Max and Thelma Baxter recognized the importance of animal production and research, and over 25 years later their gift is still making an impact," said Raj Khosla, Cashup Davis Family Endowed Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. "Their support has been instrumental in new discoveries and solving complex challenges facing beef production systems across the state and beyond."

Du has unlocked valuable insights for producers like the Baxters who are eager to improve beef quality, Khosla added.

"The resources made possible by their endowment will mean greater productivity and impact," he said.

Du is internationally recognized for his work exploring the interaction between nutrients, genes, growth, and health. Raised in Hangzhou, China, a city near Shanghai, Du's curiosity was sparked in childhood by nature magazines and movies about science. He earned advanced degrees in China and the U.S. and came to WSU in 2011 from the University of Wyoming, where he led research on the impacts of maternal nutrition on livestock performance and meat quality.

"Early development is so important," Du said. "In production animals, just as in humans, the fetal stage sets the long-term trajectory of our physical condition and health."

At WSU, Du's focus has broadened to embrace human health. Addressing rising rates of obesity and diabetes in Americans, including children, his team discovered a key physiological component of poor fetal muscle and fat tissue development. This led to new treatments to improve metabolic health in children born to mothers with obesity and diabetes. The work also revealed that maternal exercise can provide strong protective effects against childhood obesity.

In the agricultural arena, Du's work has led to nutritional strategies that optimize tissue development, enhancing meat quality and yields in livestock. Adopted by beef producers, his pre- and post-natal management guidance has led to measurable improvements in beef quality and production efficiency.

Former director at large of the American Society of Animal Science, Du leads the department's undergraduate animal growth and development course and has trained more than 60 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scientists.

He is honored to be appointed to the Baxter chair and sees it as an inspiring recognition of his research on cattle development.

"The scientific questions are what interest me most," Du said of his work. "Those types of questions don't distinguish between medical and animal science."