Bob McGuire, CALS grad and former Extension agent and specialist, has died

Dr. Robert L. “Bob” McGuire, professor emeritus at Auburn University, died February 27 at UAB University Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. McGuire, a native of Brevard, N.C., received his 1957 bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry and his 1960 master’s in animal science from N.C. State University, before earning his 1965 Ph.D. in animal physiology from the University of Kentucky. During his career, he was an instructor of animal science at N.C. State, assistant county agent in Durham County and Extension animal husbandry specialist in the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. He then served for four years at the University of Georgia as Extension animal scientist. His career culminated with 19 years of service at Auburn University as head of Extension Animal Science. He was named professor emeritus of animal science upon his retirement from Auburn in 1994.            

McGuire was an active member of the American Society of Animal Science, serving on committees and the board at the national and regional level, including president of the Southern Section in 1977-78. He served as Superintendent of the National 4-H Livestock Judging Contest at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago for four years in the 1960s and later served on the National 4-H Animal Science Program Development Committee.

He judged livestock shows throughout the United States, including the National Western Show in Denver. In Alabama, he instituted the Alabama Purebred Beef Breeds Council and contributed extensively in the development of the successful Stocker-700 program. He served as president of the Lee County, Ala., Cattlemen’s Association.

Among many honors, he was named Father of the Year by the Lee County Cattlewomen, was recognized with his family as the Alabama Angus Association Family of the Year in 1986, and received the Beef Cattle Improvement Association’s Richard Deese Award in 1993. McGuire also was named Alabama Limousin Breeder of the Year in 1994 and Alabama Angus Association Breeder of the Year in 2001. He was inducted into the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame in 1997, honored as a lifetime director of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and was recognized by the Alabama Angus Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

McGuire was a well-known speaker, making hundreds of presentations to agricultural organizations across the state, and he wrote a popular monthly column for 19 years in the Alabama Cattleman magazine.

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