AETA Award Recipients

The AETA President's Award is awarded to individuals at the President's discretion for outstanding service to AETA and/or the ET industry at large.

2023 Dr. Daniela Demetrio

2022 Morgan Montgomery

2022 Dr. Ashley Swenson

2020 Dr. Scott Armbrust

2019 Dr. Charles Looney

2018 Dr. Richard O. Whitaker

2016 Dr. Stephen Malin

2007 Dr. Larry Kennel

2005 Dr. Randall Hinshaw

The Edwin Robertson Lifetime Achievement Award (2019-Present)

In 2019, the AETA Board of Directors chose to combine both the Edwin Robertson Distinguished Service Award and the AETA Lifetime Achievement Award into one prestigious award.

This award is the highest honor given by the American Embryo Transfer Association. It is presented, when merited, to someone who has given great service to the embryo transfer industry. These individuals have distinguished themselves by a lifetime of contributions to the embryo transfer industry and to the AETA. Individuals who are presented with this award will receive an honorary AETA life membership. They are outstanding individuals and the AETA is proud to list them here.

This award is named in honor of its first recipient, Dr. Edwin Robertson. The AETA thanks Dr. Robertson for his contributions and loyalty to both the AETA and the industry as a whole.

2023 Dr. Randall Hinshaw

2023 Dr. Darrel DeGrofft

2022 Dr. Kirk Gray

2020 Dr. Dan Hornickel

2020 Dr. Chris Keim

2019 Dr. Brad Stroud

Award History

The Edwin Robertson Distinguished Service Award (2014-2019)

This award is the highest honor given by the American Embryo Transfer Association. It is presented, when merited, to someone who has given great service to the embryo transfer industry. This award is named in honor of its first recipient, Dr. Edwin Robertson. Dr. Robertson served as President of AETA in 1989. He co-founded and coordinated the AABP Embryo Transfer preconference seminars from their inception in 1980 until his passing in 2014. He mentored well over 100 veterinarians and veterinary students through his practice and served on numerous committees for AETA, AABP, IETS, and the Society for Theriogenology. He served as President of the Society for Theriogenology in 1991 and was awarded the AABP Practitioner of the Year in 1993. Dr. Robertson's favorite service, however, was when he got an opportunity to share his faith in Jesus Christ. He truly had a servant's heart.

2014 Dr. Edwin Robertson (Awarded posthumously)

The AETA Lifetime Achievement Award (2014-2019)

The AETA recognizes the contributions of a very select group of individuals with a lifetime achievement award that includes an honorary life membership. These individuals have distinguished themselves by a lifetime of contributions to the embryo transfer industry and to the AETA. They are outstanding individuals and the AETA is proud to list them here.

Dr. Richard A. Carmichael

Dr. Roger L. Davis

Dr. John F. Hasler 

Dr. Chris Keim

Dr. Stanley P. Leibo

Dr. Reuben Mapletoft

Dr. Albert Mills, III

Dr. Clifton N. Murphy

Dr. Robert F. Rowe

Dr. George E. Seidel, Jr.

Dr. Brad Stroud

Edwin Robertson (Hidden)

Dr. Brad Stroud created a legacy as a lifetime learner and was always on the cutting edge of research and technology. Dr. Stroud, who passed away in February 2023, was a friend and mentor to many, an AETA Past President (1990-1991), IETS Past President (1993), AETA Edwin Robertson Lifetime Achievement Award recipient (2019), and IETS Distinguished Service Award recipient (2020).

Because of Dr. Stroud’s commitment to the embryo transfer industry, the 2023 AETA Research Award (first awarded in 2022) was renamed in his honor.

The Brad Stroud Memorial Research Award exists to provide an opportunity for funding to support practitioner-initiated research projects that focus on advancing the knowledge and efficiency of applied assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in livestock species. The goal of the award is to provide some financial support and access to statisticians, to help ensure that the data generated by AETA-funded projects will be robust under critical evaluation and will be of benefit to the AETA membership at large.

The projects awarded in 2023 were funded by the AETA Research Committee and the generous donations of Dr. Stroud’s friends, family, and colleagues. Because of the outpouring of support, the AETA Research Committee was able to approve funding for three research projects.

We are proud to list those projects below, in alphabetical order.

Follicular wave synchronization with/without follicle stimulation in Bos Indicus and Bos Indicus-influenced beef cattle

PI/Co-PIs: Ky Pohler, Cliff Lamb, Damon Smith, Brette Poliakiwski

Machine learning models to predict embryo survival of cryopreservation

PI/Co-PIs: Russell Killingsworth, Cameron Hayden, John Gibbons, Darin Dunlap

Non-invasive techniques to access the genomic stability of in vitro derived preimplantation bovine embryos

PI/Co-PIs: Charles Looney, Kenneth Bondioli, Emily Girka, Ashlyn Brewer

2022 Research Award Recipient 

Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate for Delivery of a Single Intramuscular Injections of FSH for Follicle Stimulation in Beef Cattle

PI/Co-PIs: Kenneth Bondioli, Charles Looney, Erin Oberhaus

Brad Stroud (Hidden)