Obituary

George W. Trimberger, professor emeritus of animal science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, died Oct. 9 at age 94 in Charlotte, N.C., where he had lived for the past seven years. He was at Cornell from 1944 until his retirement in 1975.

Trimberger was an expert in dairy cattle, a pioneer in artificial insemination and the creator of a type classification of Holstein cattle, a system that was adopted by other breeds and in 35 countries worldwide. He had 188 publications to his credit, including four editions of Dairy Cattle Judging Techniques.

Trimberger coached 24 Cornell dairy cattle judging teams who competed in nationwide contests against other universities. Under his direction, the Cornell teams accumulated one of the best records in the United States. Recognized as a talented dairy cattle judge, Trimberger officiated at many shows in the United States and abroad.

Trimberger's expertise led to many international assignments -- in Eastern Europe, Cuba and Israel. His most important foreign work was in the Philippines and Nigeria. From 1955 to 1957, he served as director of the Cornell Project to Rehabilitate the College of Agriculture in the Philippines, an assignment he repeated in 1966-67 when he was in charge of developing a graduate education program. In 1975 Trimberger served as chief of party for the Veterinary Medicine Project and chair of the Animal Science Department at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria on a Kansas State University Project.

In 2001, 26 years after his retirement, Trimberger received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Alumni Association of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In addition, he received awards from the National Dairy Hall of Fame, the National Dairy Shrine, the National Brown Swiss Association, the New York State Purebred Dairy Cattle Association and New York State Holstein Association.

The funeral for Trimberger will be held Monday, Oct. 18, at 11 a.m. at St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Ithaca. A viewing will be held at Bangs Funeral Home on Sunday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the George W. Trimberger Scholarship Fund, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, 272 Roberts Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853.