As a faculty member from 1990-2023, professor emeritus Dr. Randy C. Perry oversaw
the beef cattle unit (and its Charolais, Angus and Hereford herds), and taught classes
in the areas of beef cattle production and management, and farm animal reproduction
and artificial insemination.
He served as a department chair, special assistant to the dean, chair of the Jordan
College personnel committee, campus undergraduate academic program review subcommittee
and learning assessment team member.
In addition, Dr. Perry was involved in cooperative research efforts with staff and
faculty from the Department of Plant Science and Mechanized Agriculture, the Department
of Industrial Technology and the Center for Irrigation Technology. Dr. Perry was the
1993 recipient of the Salgo-Noren Award for excellence in teaching and advising.
The Red Wave Junior Livestock Show, which he helped start with former faculty member
John Cordeiro, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023 as students from across the
state showed nearly 500 beef cattle, goats, pigs and sheep. The college’s biggest
off-campus annual event of the year is coordinated by over 100 Fresno State students,
faculty and staff at the Big Fresno Fair, and is a key livestock judging educational
experience and Fresno State student recruitment tool.
His students, both graduate and undergraduate, conducted research in the areas of
nutritional, genetic, and reproductive management of beef cattle.
Perry grew up in Newman, near Turlock, and graduated from Orestimba High School. He
helped with his family’s cattle operation and also was a FFA member, which sparked
the foundation for a life of interacting with students and livestock.
He moved in the summer of 2023 to Mulhall, Oklahoma to be with his wife and former
faculty member, Susan Henderson Perry, and closer to their children (Austin, Macy
and Colby) who either graduated from or still attend nearby Oklahoma State University
in Stillwater.
Click here for an interview sharing more about his background and memories of our university
agricultural programs.
Nutritional, genetic, and reproductive management of beef cattle.
