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As Standard Meat Company celebrates over 85 years of business, let’s take a look back at our company’s proud relationship with Texas A&M University (TAMU) and the university’s flagship Department of Animal Science.

How It All Began

In 1938, my grandfather “Manny” Rosenthal, the son of Standard Meat founder Ben H. Rosenthal, enrolled at Texas A&M to study meat science and business administration. In the decades that followed, Manny became president of Standard Meat, but he always found time to give back to the university, sharing his passion for meat and meat science with students from his old department, and personally leading them on tours of the Standard Meat facility.

When Manny became chairman of the board at Standard Meat in 1981, he was able to devote even more time and energy to the advancement of meat science at TAMU. Manny served on councils and committees for the university, helped with fundraising and came down to College Station to lecture the students in person.

In 1987, Manny donated to a TAMU matching fund to help endow a first-of-its-kind meat science chair, which is now the E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair in the TAMU Department of Animal Science. The first professor to hold that chair — Dr. H. Russell Cross — went on to serve as Administrator of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and is now a Professor in the Department of Animal Science at TAMU.

The current holder of the E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair is Professor Jeff Savell. A distinguished and passionate researcher and educator, Dr. Savell has taught the introductory course in meat science to over 11,000 Aggies since 1982, while conducting research on the quality, quantity, safety and usefulness of meat and meat products through his appointment with Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Dr. Savell first met my grandfather back in the 1970s, and fondly remembers the charm, warmth and positivity of the “master of relationships” who would help fund the chair he holds today.

Also in 1987, the Texas A&M University System’s Board of Regents recognized Manny’s long-time support of the university, college and department, his impact, influence and leadership on the nation’s meat industry, and his extensive involvement in civic- and faith-based activities, by honoring him with the dedication of the E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center.

The Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center Today

The Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center is the most comprehensive facility of its kind in the United States. The center features every kind of installation required for the hands-on education preferred by the meat science program: a multi-species harvesting facility, a processing/fabrication area, two cutting rooms, three smokehouses, a meat packaging area, meat coolers, a retail meat store, and of course — a fully-equipped college classroom which can double as a conference, industry clinic or seminar facility.

Manny’s support of meat science at TAMU continued into the 21st century with a generous gift left to the university in his estate. In addition to the previous endowments, that Rosenthal Fund now supports student teams, travel and research as well as equipment purchases and other meat science student activities.

The close association with TAMU has greatly benefited Standard Meat Company as well. Our company is both proud and grateful to employ Texas A&M undergraduate and graduate degree holders, and to work closely with such graduates as suppliers and customers. The education and hands-on training provided by the meat science program at TAMU benefits the entire industry. Manny Rosenthal made an investment — financial, emotional and supportive — in TAMU’s meat science program that is still paying off to this day. Manny may be gone now, but his contributions to the industry remain. We can all hope to do the same.

In 2011, Manny was posthumously inducted into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was posthumously bestowed the Texas A&M AgriLife Distinguished Texan in Agriculture Award. And in 2013, Manny was posthumously inducted into the TAMU Department of Animal Science Hall of Fame.

A picture of a very young Manny as a student judge on a meat judging team sits in a trophy case at the Rosenthal Center — and brings the circle together as Manny went on to save that contest by paying the team’s later travel expenses, and Standard Meat now supports the judging team breakfast at the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo – a legacy we’re proud to carry on in his honor.

So, what goes on at the Rosenthal Meat Science & Technology Center?

The Center provides educational and research facilities for the 1,100 undergraduate students currently enrolled in the Animal Science Department and the 25 graduate students in the specialty meat science program. Those students can learn everything there is to know about meat quality, meat safety, meat preparation and meat sales in the hands-on labs preferred by the meat science program. Many of those students will go on to careers in research and development for agricultural companies, in product development for retail chains, in academia, in government and in trade organizations such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Board.

The Center also provides continuing education programs that are open to wider sectors of the meat industry and even to the public. The Center of the Plate Training program, for instance, is designed for retail and food service professionals and offers classroom cutting demonstrations and education on grading, terminology and common uses of the various cuts of meat and poultry. The Beef 101 three-day intensive program is open to anyone with an interest in the beef industry and includes classroom discussions on a wide range of topics such as cattle feed, meat aging, beef anatomy, grading systems and food safety discussions with meat biologists — and also includes hands-on labs and a beef cutting test for each participant.

Finally, in association with Foodways Texas, the wildly popular Camp Brisket brings meat science educators (including Rosenthal chair Professor Savell), legendary pitmasters and lucky meat aficionados (who have to win a lottery to attend) together for an in-depth, hands-on, pit-level study of everyone’s favorite Texas BBQ.

Links:

Standard Meat History Timeline http://www.standardmeat.com/about-us/
Rosenthal Meat Science & Technology Center https://animalscience.tamu.edu/about/facilities/rmstc/
TAMU Meat Science Course Background and History https://meat.tamu.edu/teaching/ansc-307-background-history/
TAMU Meat Science Section https://meat.tamu.edu/
Jeff Savell, University Distinguished Professor and E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal Chair in Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University https://animalscience.tamu.edu/people/savell-jeff/
E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal’s posthumous induction into the Department of Animal Science Hall of Fame https://animalscience.tamu.edu/2013/05/15/texas-am-animal-science-presents-alumni-awards-introduces-hall-of-fame/
TAMU Center of the Plate Training https://meat.tamu.edu/2019/07/11/2019-center-of-the-plate-training-held-at-texas-am-university/
TAMU Beef 101 three-day program https://animalscience.tamu.edu/academics/meat-science/workshops/beef-101/
TAMU Camp Brisket https://bbq.tamu.edu/camp-brisket/
TAMU Camp Brisket on YouTube https://youtu.be/6872uFqPQ9I