Dr. Ronnie and Jane Green
Dr. Ronnie and Jane Green, both longtime supporters of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Block and Bridle Club, will be recognized as the 2023 Block and Bridle Club honorees. Since 1938, the Block and Bridle Club has recognized individuals that contributed to Nebraska agriculture through leadership, service, youth projects, community activities and involvement with the university. The candidates are nominated by industry leaders and selected by the club officers and advisors.
Ronnie joins Edgar Burnett (1941) as the second University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor to be honored with the award, while Jane joins Sallie Atkins (2001) and Anne Marie Bosshammer (2016) as the third female honored in the club's history.
Ronnie was raised on a mixed beef, dairy, and cropping farm in southwestern Virginia and received his degree in animal science from Virginia Tech, before earning his master's in animal science from Colorado State University, and his Ph.D. from Nebraska in animal breeding and genetics. Jane (Pauley) grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm near Harvard, Nebraska, before enrolling at Nebraska on a Regent's Scholarship, earning both her bachelor's in agricultural honors and master's in agricultural economics from the university.
While at Virginia Tech, Ronnie was named outstanding junior and senior by the Block and Bridle Club and Vice Chairman of the Virginia Tech Agricultural Club Council. At Nebraska, Jane served as Block and Bridle historian and secretary, participated in Quadrathalon, was crowned Miss Block and Bridle, and was a member of the Nebraska meats judging team. Both also served as president of their respective Block and Bridle Club chapters, with Ronnie later serving as secretary/treasurer, vice president, and president of the National Block and Bridle organization.
The Greens' contributions and impact on agriculture in Nebraska and beyond are hard to measure. Ronnie served on the animal science faculties at Nebraska, Texas Tech University and Colorado State, was the national program leader for animal production research for the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, and as an internationally recognized authority in animal genetics, he served as executive secretary of the White House's interagency working group on animal genomics within the National Science and Technology Council. Jane's work for Cooperative Extension in the Department of Agricultural Economics during the ag crisis of the 1980's continues to impact farming and ranching operations in Nebraska. Jane and Deb Rood spent a winter in 1985 presenting Managing for Tomorrow, a program for ag couples, and noticed that women were eager students who wanted to learn more about management. From that, the first Women in Agriculture Conference was born. The Women in Ag Conference continues to this day each February with an average of 275 women attending annually. In addition to the conference, the program now offers year-round programming and trainings to assist women in strengthening their family farm and ranch operations, reaching more than 800 women last year.
The Block and Bridle Club is part of the Animal Science Department within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.