UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Steven Loerch’s first real paycheck came from Penn State. So did his last. In between, the College of Agricultural Sciences alumnus forged an illustrious career as a land-grant animal scientist, teacher, extension specialist and administrator spanning more than four decades.

Loerch reflected on his experiences as he approached his retirement as senior associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, effective Dec. 31.

As a 17-year-old high school student in 1971, the Lemont native, who grew up on the lower slopes of Mount Nittany, earned money as a part-time laboratory assistant in what then was known as the Pesticide Research Lab, working for Ralph Mumma, a distinguished professor emeritus in the College of Agricultural Sciences’ entomology department.

“That really gave me my foundation for understanding the research process,” Loerch said. “That was a great experience for me as I moved into animal science working with four-legged animals instead of six-legged animals. Ralph Mumma and my undergraduate adviser, Erskine Cash, played a key role in my career development.”

After graduating from Penn State in 1977 with a degree in animal industries, Loerch headed to the Midwest, at Cash’s suggestion, to earn master’s and doctoral degrees in ruminant nutrition from the University of Illinois. In 1981, he joined the faculty at Ohio State University, where he spent the next 33 years as a professor of beef cattle nutrition, conducting research, teaching undergraduates, mentoring graduate students and delivering extension programs.

“The primary focus of my research was regulation of feed intake of ruminants to maximize their efficiency and enhance profitability by reducing production costs,” he said. “I developed what we call a prescription intake program, in which the producer or the nutritionist decides how much the animal should eat every day, instead of letting the animal do that by its own instinct. I have degrees from two respected universities, and I like to say that I’m smarter than an Angus steer, and I think I know better what it should eat than it does.”

Loerch also focused on the nutrition of beef cattle as they transitioned from the pastures where they were raised to feedlots, where they are commingled with many other cattle from different sources prior to processing.

“I use this analogy from my wife’s career as an elementary school teacher,” he explained. “Kids are raised in their own family unit. They’re outdoors a lot. And then on the first day of school, we send them to this educational feedlot, and they’re all sitting right next to each other so they can pass their viruses and bacteria back and forth in this confinement education system.

“And the exact same thing happens in a confined feedlot. Shortly after the animals get there, they’ll run through a bout of respiratory disease. I had a significant research program looking at ways to mitigate those health issues through nutrition and management.”

A third thrust of Loerch’s research examined the use of byproducts in animal feed. He noted that this work enabled the beef industry to repurpose a significant amount of byproducts from the food processing and other industries to maximize their nutritional value.

In addition to generating more than 140 refereed journal publications and approximately $3 million in grant funding, Loerch’s research earned him numerous accolades. Among his research honors were the American Society of Animal Science Ruminant Nutrition Research Award, the society’s Research Fellow Award, and several awards from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Loerch is quick to credit his students and colleagues for these accomplishments.

“The secret to my success is that I was very skilled at identifying students and staff who wanted to work with me, and I allowed them to achieve up to their potential,” he said. “Their great successes made me look good. So, any recognition I’ve gotten, it’s largely because of them.”

He pointed out that former students whom he advised currently work in beef cattle research, teaching and extension programs at Penn State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas State, North Dakota State, North Carolina State, Georgia and University of California Davis. Other former students work at prestigious universities worldwide, and some are “major players” in the global beef industry. Their success, he said, is the source of his greatest career satisfaction.

“Their accomplishments are my greatest accomplishment,” he added. “They are my professional legacy.”

In 2014, Loerch returned to Illinois to lead the Department of Animal Sciences. There, he oversaw 42 faculty members and approximately 400 employees, including students. He was responsible for the operations, management, personnel and budgets for 10 animal research and education units on campus and two outlying research centers. He also was in charge of undergraduate and graduate education programs and extension education.

Loerch’s career came full circle in 2017, when he was named senior associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Loerch called the experience of returning to his roots after 40 years to finish his career “kind of surreal.”

“There was a familiarity, and yet, things were different,” he said. “I was able to renew some old friendships. I was able to stay connected with my mom, brother, sister-in-law and treasured extended family. I’m happy that things haven’t changed too much. I still love Penn State wrestling and football. I still love the beauty of the mountains. I still love Our Lady of Victory church, where Karen and I got married the week after we graduated.”

As senior associate dean, Loerch has had broad, college-wide duties in planning, administration and implementation of programs; daily operations; budgets; safety; University policy and procedures; personnel; promotion and tenure; hiring and retention; facilities and land; external relations; and assistance for academic, regional and support units of the college. He suggests that his role was to lead by providing service to students, faculty and staff.

“I’m a very task-oriented, linear thinker,” he said. “How can I help you be more effective in your job? How can I enhance the efficiency of how we get work done to achieve our mission? I tried to be effective in my service role to empower our faculty, students and staff to achieve great things. I hope I’ve had some success in that.

“Dean (Rick) Roush is more of a visionary, which makes us, in my view, a good team,” he continued. “He’s been tremendously gracious in allowing me to work to my strengths and delegating where I can get things done. It’s been a great partnership.”

Roush noted that he has had many “terrific” working partnerships in his career, but none as strong as the virtually daily interactions he had with Loerch. “We seamlessly divided heavy workloads very efficiently, even readily finishing each other’s sentences,” he said. “I greatly leaned on Steve’s detailed understanding of facilities and operations, and I deferred to him on many subject areas, including animal science. He never hesitated to challenge my thinking, and my decisions were always better for it.”

Loerch’s retirement plans include spending time with his wife at their house in Hatteras Island, North Carolina, traveling around the country to see family, and visiting Happy Valley to guest-lecture and attend college functions. “It won’t be a formal arrangement, but I will maintain my friendships and offer lots of free advice,” he said. 

And he is bullish on the future of the college and its land-grant mission.

“The College of Agricultural Sciences has a proven track record of success,” he said. “The U.S. population has increased by 110 million people since I graduated from Penn State. Our students, discoveries and extension mission allow us to provide a safe, abundant food supply for a growing population. We address and contribute to solutions for society’s greatest challenges. If society is willing to invest in us, we will continue to deliver, big time.”