UF professor emeritus named to cattle group’s Hall of Fame

Maarten Drost, D.V.M., a world-renowned expert in bovine reproduction and a professor emeritus at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, was recently inducted into the 2014 Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame.

The announcement was made during the American Association of Bovine Practitioners’ annual conference, held Sept. 18-20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to the association, five other organizations, including the Academy of Veterinary Consultants, Bovine Veterinarian, Merck Animal Health and Osborn Barr, sponsor the award.

Drost retired from his position as a professor in the college’s department of large animal clinical sciences in 2003. A board-certified theriogenologist, or veterinary reproduction specialist, he is known for his groundbreaking work in embryo transfer technology and the mechanisms of pregnancy recognition and fertility management in cattle. His team at UF was responsible for the world’s first embryo transfer to result in the birth of a water buffalo calf, a landmark achievement that led him to collaborate in production of the first buffalo calves using the same technique in Europe.

Following his retirement, Drost built on his career in animal reproduction by developing an online, annotated and free visual guide to reproduction in animals — a sort of cyber atlas known as the Drost Project Visual Guide Drost has continued to maintain the guide as a teaching tool for veterinarians of the future.

A native of the Netherlands, Drost came to UF in 1977 after serving on the faculty of the University of California, Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine. Before that, he was a visiting associate professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and at State University at Utrecht in the Netherlands. He also was a visiting professor at Colorado State University’s embryo transfer unit and worked in private practice in California. Drost also served as a captain in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps.

A 1962 graduate of Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Drost received many awards during his distinguished career, including the David E. Bartlett Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Theriogenology in 2004 and the Stange Award for Meritorious Service in Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 2008.

The Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame was established in 2011 to celebrate the rich traditions of production veterinary medicine by honoring the exceptional men and women who have made lasting contributions to the veterinary profession.

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is supported through funding from UF Health and the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences