Featured Links
About Us
Welcome
Welcome to the Department of Animal Sciences, an academic family that includes more than 6,000 alumni, about 500 currently-enrolled undergraduate students, and more than 100 graduate students. We trust that you will enjoy learning about our department and that our association will continue throughout your lifetime.
Domestic animals were an integral element of pioneer life on the Illinois prairie. Animals provided food, clothing materials, power to do farm work and companionship to the early settlers. Our life at the end of the 20th century is very different from that of our ancestors but the fundamental, mutually-beneficial relationships between people and animals remains unaltered. Animal agriculture was a part of the Land-Grant University mission from its inception.
The business of caring for animals was recognized as a separate subject matter area in 1901 when the University of Illinois faculty established the Department of Animal Husbandry. The Department's Division of Animal Pathology and Hygiene, founded in 1945, was predecessor to College of Veterinary Medicine. The Dairy Husbandry Department was organized as a separate unit in 1902. The term "science" replaced "husbandry" in the titles of both departments in 1947 and the two departments were merged in 1985 to create the current Department of Animal Sciences.
The forty-five members of the professorial faculty engage in a wide range of teaching, research, and outreach activities. Their interests include most of the major disciplines of modern animal biology. Some do fundamental, discovery research while others address very practical problems of current interest to animal producers and pet owners.
Ultimately, an education is the product of an individual effort to learn. The learning opportunities on this campus are virtually without limit. We stand ready to help you achieve your personal objectives. Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Dr. Neal Merchen
Department Head
Animal Sciences