[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 105 (Thursday, July 22, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRATULATION TO DR. LAWRENCE A. JOHNSON UPON HIS RETIREMENT

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                           HON. DAVID R. OBEY

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 1999

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the career of a 
longtime public servant, Dr. Lawrence A. Johnson, a leading researcher 
and international authority in the field of artificial insemination and 
semen physiology and preservation in swine.
  Dr. Johnson, was born and raised on a livestock farm in Luck, 
Wisconsin, in the heart of western Wisconsin's dairy country in my 
district. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of 
Wisconsin at River Falls in 1961, he received his Master's from the 
University of Minnesota in St. Paul in 1963, and was awarded his 
doctorate by the University of Maryland in 1968.
  Thirty-five years ago, in 1964, Dr. Johnson began his career with the 
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, first as a chemist with the Swine Research Branch, and 
later as Research Physiologist with the Reproduction Laboratory. He 
became Research Leader of the Germplasm and Gamete Physiology 
Laboratory when it was created in 1991. He also served for two years as 
Visiting Scientist at the Research Institute for Animal production in 
the Netherlands.
  With Dr. V.G. Pursel, Dr. Johnson developed the Beltsville Freezing 
and Thawing Method for preserving swine sperm. This method has been 
commercially used for cryopreservation of boar semen since 1975 and it 
has been used for the exportation of the highest quality genetics to 
upgrade swine production in more than 40 countries throughout the 
world. Subsequently , Dr. Johnson initiated collaborative studies with 
Dutch which led to the Beltsville TS Semen Diluent becoming the primary 
swine semen diluent throughout the world, currently used in 12 to 15 
million inseminations worldwide each year. More recently, his research 
led to the development of the only effective method to control the sex 
ratio of mammalian offspring, considered a major advance in 
reproductive biology, which has brought him world recognition as an 
authority on gender preselection. In 1993, Dr. Johnson and his 
colleagues successfully adapted the sexing technology to be used for 
disease prevention in humans.
  Dr. Johnson has authored or co-authored more than 265 scientific 
papers, book chapters and abstracts, and he has presented 75 papers at 
various international symposia and meetings. His numerous awards have 
included the Alexander von Humboldt Award in 1994 for the ``most 
significant accomplishment in American Agriculture in the previous five 
years'', and, in the same year, he was recognized as the Distinguished 
ARS Scientist for the Year. Dr. Johnson's work has also been recognized 
in countries throughout the world from the Netherlands to Japan.
  Upon his retirement from government service, Dr. Johnson will be 
returning to his home state of Wisconsin. I'd like to take this 
opportunity to thank him for his years of government service, and wish 
him well in his future endeavors.

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