SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) gives its Humane Award to non-veterinarians recognized for achieving animal welfare through leadership, public service, education, research, product development or advocacy.
This year, Temple Grandin, Ph.D., professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University and a pioneering animal welfare advocate, will receive the prestigious honor.
It is one of three Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Bond Excellence Awards presented annually by the AVMA and supported by Merck Animal Health.
“I’m deeply honored to receive the AVMA Humane Award,” Grandin said. “My goal has always been to improve the lives of animals through practical, science-based methods that reduce stress and promote humane treatment. It’s been a privilege to work alongside veterinarians, educators and industry leaders to bring about lasting changes that benefit animals and the people who care for them.”
For more than 35 years, Grandin has transformed the raising and handling of food animals in the United States and around the world. Facilities across the globe use her industry-changing designs of humane livestock handling systems, and her center track restrainer system is now the industry standard in large beef plants across North America. Her work continually reduces fear and stress in animals in critical situations and directly improves the welfare of millions of animals.
“Dr. Grandin’s unique understanding of animal behavior and welfare has had an unparalleled impact on the livestock industry, the veterinary profession and the public’s understanding of animal agriculture,” said Sandra Faeh, DVM, president of the AVMA. “She is perhaps the most recognizable public figure in the world when it comes to the welfare of food animals, and for good reason. Her groundbreaking work has improved the lives of millions of animals and set a standard for what humane care in animal agriculture can and should look like. It is an honor to recognize her with the AVMA Humane Award.”
Diagnosed with autism at an early age, the world often struggled to understand her, but thanks to early intervention and strong support from her family, Grandin learned to navigate that world. Her unique way of thinking in pictures and a deep empathy for animals gave her insight into animals’ perception of their environments. That affinity for animals became the foundation of her groundbreaking lifelong work in animal welfare.
Grandin received a Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois and became a leading advocate for the humane treatment of livestock and developed one of the first objective scoring systems to assess animal handling and stunning practices in slaughter plants in the 1990s.
Her comprehensive auditing protocols brought animal welfare oversight to new levels and drove industry leading changes adopted by the US Department of Agriculture and major food companies.
In 1999, McDonald’s Corp. hired Grandin to train its food safety auditors in handling procedures and incorporated her criteria for evaluating suppliers to ensure compliance with humane handling processes, leading to improvements in livestock facilities across the country.
Grandin has written and published hundreds of scientific papers and over a dozen books, including several best sellers. Visual Thinking, her most recent book, explores the unique ways in which neurodivergent minds — like her own as a person with autism — contribute to science and society.
Currently a professor at Colorado State University, she regularly presents at US and international conferences on animal welfare, agriculture and autism awareness, and in 2023, the Kansas State University College of Veterinarian Medicine awarded her an honorary veterinary degree.
Grandin has served as a member of several AVMA advisory panels, including the Panel on Euthanasia, Panel on Humane Slaughter and Panel on Depopulation. Her work on these entities has helped shape AVMA guidance that continues to encourage humane practices across the veterinary and food animal industries.
Grandin’s national and international honors include a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.
In 2010, the same year she was portrayed by Claire Danes in the Emmy Award–winning HBO biopic Temple Grandin, Grandin was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
She received the Meritorious Achievement Award from the World Organization for Animal Health, the Double Helix Medal by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for raising awareness and funds for biomedical research, and the 2024 Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award. USA Today named Grandin one of 2025’s Women of the Year, and in 2017 she was elected to the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
A long-time contributor, Grandin’s column, “From the corral,” appears regularly in MEAT+POULTRY magazine, a sister publication of Pet Food Processing.
Grandin will receive the award and be a featured speaker at AVMA Convention 2025, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, from July 18 to 22.
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