Lawrence R Schaeffer

Emeritus Professor Lawrence R. Schaeffer from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, has been appointed Honorary Doctor of Agricultural Science.

He is acknowledged for his efforts within statistical genetics and animal breeding for over more than 40 years. He has also collaborated with the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics as well as the breeding organisation Interbull.

He is renowned not only for his prominent research within the field, but also for his ability to highlight other researchers' results. An example of this is BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction), a breeding model used for both livestock and companion animals that was originally developed by Schaeffer's supervisor Charles Henderson, but was spread over the world by Schaeffer.

He is also the originator of the breeding method MACE, which enables researchers to compare breeding animals from many different environments.

• Watch Lawrence Shaeffer's honorary doctor's lecture