W. Stephen Damron was born and raised on a diversified farm in Martin, Tennessee. He received his BS from the University of Tennessee-Martin (1975) in Agricultural Science and Master's (1978) and PhD (1982) degrees from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in Ruminant Nutrition. He joined the Animal Science Department Oklahoma State University in 1988 after having taught at the University of Hawaii-Hilo and The University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Dr. Damron's teaching career is characterized by rigorous courses on a variety of topics taught in multiple delivery systems. He has developed and taught over 30 courses. He has also taught five distance education courses, which annually enrolled several hundred students from across the United States and around the world. As a faculty member, Dr. Damron advised a large number of students and is known for his care and concern for students. He has been the faculty advisor to 13 separate student organizations and the academic advisor to over 1500 students at OSU alone. For many years, he coordinated the Animal Science Department's large scholarship program. He also served the department as Teaching Coordinator, Diversity Coordinator, and Research Scholar Co-coordinator. He has served on numerous departmental, college, university, professional, and community committees and councils. Dr. Damron's text, Introduction to Animal Science: Global, Biological, Social, and Industry Perspectives, is used extensively in the United States and abroad. In its fifth edition, it has also been published in an international edition and a Chinese translation. Dr Damron has received 26 teaching and advising awards and recognitions. From 2011 to present Dr. Damron has been the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Damron's wife, Rebecca, is currently the Director of the OSU Writing Center and a member of the English faculty at OSU. Their son, Joshua, is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan and their daughter, Aubryana Peterson, resides in Dallas where she is an event planner and her husband, Cameron, is a Dallas police officer.