January 2000 Select Sires Honors Chichester With Building Dedication Upon His Retirement PLAIN CITY, OHIO, USA - On December 9, 1999, Richard H.L. Chichester III was honored with a retirement reception with more than 300 guests in attendance. Presenters from around the United States and as far away as Japan were on hand to thank him for his contribution to their success. It was there that the Select Sires Board of Directors’ decision was announced to name the main headquarters facility in his honor. The buildings that house the federation’s headquarters offices, laboratories, processing, shipping and the world’s elite sires will now be known as the Chichester Center. For 28 years, Chichester served as General Manager of Select Sires, Inc. His vision, diplomacy and dedication to the cooperative’s membership spearheaded a program that made Select Sires the model for the A.I. industry. With semen sales in excess of five million units in each year of the 1990s, Select Sires’ genetic influence has become well recognized by dairy and beef producers world-wide. Chichester dedicated his lifelong A.I. career to the advancement of bovine genetics. His strong convictions and leadership skills made him a pioneer in genetic testing for "Mulefoot", with some of the early testing of Wayne-Spring Fond Apollo progeny conducted at Select Sires. Chichester’s foresight also led to extensive research on BLAD and a more definitive semen test for Johne's disease. Leaders of all U.S. dairy breed associations knowingly sought Chichester's advice in both organizational and philosophical matters. He served on both the National Dairy Shrine Board of Directors and as President of the National Association of Animal Breeders. Chichester was the 1994 Dairy Shrine Guest of Honor and the 1995 World Dairy Expo Industry Person of the Year. Born in Stafford County, Virginia, and schooled at Virginia Tech, Chichester returned to his family’s Guernsey farm after serving in the U.S. Army. In 1960 he began his A.I. career as Manager of West Virginia ABC. In 1963 he became sire analyst for the Maryland-West Virginia bull stud and later was named Sire Programs Manager for Sire Power. He came to Select Sires in 1971. Richard and his wife Jackie are residents of Plain City, Ohio. They are the parents of four children and have five grandchildren. The Chichesters are in the process of restoring the family homestead in which he was raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia with plans to move back there in the near future. Chichester has remained dedicated to A.I. and to helping Select’s federation of 10 farmer-owned and controlled cooperatives achieve its basic objective: to provide America's best genetics at reasonable prices. It started in the 1970s and the legacy of his work will stretch into the next century. Copyright 1996-2000 Select Sires Inc. Last updated 1-Feb-2000. Web Site Design by Point & Click Software, Inc.