The man who helped pioneer the scientific evaluation, regulatory approval and technical application of a natural growth hormone called bovine somatotropin was honored with this year’s Henry A. Wallace Award.

Douglas Hard, vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Public Acceptance at Renessen LLC, was presented the award at a ceremony last Friday.

The Henry A. Wallace Award honors an ISU alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution to national or international agriculture in agricultural writing, teaching, research or leadership.

“I don’t think there is a greater honor than to have your alma mater bring you back and give you an award for work that you’ve done since you have left,” Hard said. “Having Iowa State call me and tell me that they are giving me one of their top agricultural awards means an awful lot to me. I will cherish it forever.”

Hard came to Iowa State in pursuit of an animal science degree and soon became interested in animal physiology and nutrition.

His main focus was on the gap in animal nutrition between the nutrients, which are in the plants that the animals eat, and the conversion of those nutrients into edible animal products, he said.

Hard’s interest in agriculture were cultivated by the mentoring he received from many of the animal science faculty, including Lloyd Anderson, distinguished professor of animal science. Working in Anderson’s laboratory sparked his interest in research, Hard said.

“There’s a certain amount of excitement associated with creating a hypothesis and testing it,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the whole area of research, learning as much information as you possible can with very high quality work in the shortest period of time possible.”

Hard graduated from Iowa State with a bachelor of science degree in animal science in 1975, a master of science degree in 1978 and doctorate in 1981 in reproductive physiology.

He continued at Iowa State through 1983, with a post-doctorate fellowship on neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction in cattle.

Next, he joined Monsanto Company and began his work with bovine somatotropin, a naturally occurring growth hormone that is used daily in more than 5 million cows to stimulate milk production.

Hard played a major role in bringing bovine somatotropin from the scientific laboratory through the regulatory approval system, aiding in its application by dairy producers and gaining public acceptance, Anderson said.

“Important keys to taking a product such as [bovine somatotropin] from the scientific laboratory to commercial application nationally and internationally include solid science-based information and an ability to work with people,” Anderson said. “Doug Hard exemplifies those traits for success.”

Hard recently joined Renessen, a joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto Company. Renessen’s business mission is to discover and commercialize biotechnology products for animal feed and grain processing on a global basis, he said.

“One of the most important things that I have learned in my experience with biotechnology in the past 20 years is that you can’t just be a scientist and you just can’t take care of the science,” Hard said.

“We collect additional information so that we can help the people in our company, as well as the people in the feed supply chain . to better understand the basic biology of biotechnology. With a basic understanding of the biology, you can move people from ignorance to a general and more comfortable understanding of what is going on.”