Fred Morley graduated BVSc with Honours from Sydney University in 1942. Although initially appointed as a District Veterinary Officer in the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, he became a researcher at Trangie Agricultural Experiment Station in 1943.
In 1946, with the award of a CSIRO studentship, he undertook postgraduate training in genetics at Iowa State University with JL Lush, LN Hazel and O Kempthorne. The data he had collected from Trangie formed the basis of the first genetic analyses on Merino sheep. On his return to Trangie, these analyses were extended to additional characters and the implications for the development of practical breeding plans were explored. At the same time, single character up and down selection lines were established at Trangie for important production traits to check the reliability of parameters from the statistical analyses.
Fred joined the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry in 1954 and over the next 20 years was involved in research on the improvement of pasture plants and the utilisation of pasture by animals. This work led to the development of a computer modelling research interest including its extension to economic analysis. His outstanding work in this area was recognised by the Australian Society of Animal Production of which he was a President in 1972 and which honoured him with a Fellowship in 1974.
Although he retired from CSIRO in 1977, Fred's involvement with scientific research has not ceased or even noticeably lessened. Appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and, later, Senior Associate in Farm Animal Production at the University of Melbourne, he has been heavily involved in developing the MacKinnon project as a consulting service to the sheep and beef industries and as a means of training students. This involvement in consulting has led Fred full circle to once again having a direct input into research, teaching and promoting better means of genetically improving the Merino.
Fred Morley's contribution to animal breeding arose from his grasp of the relatively new area of statistical genetics and his foresight in planning a long-term Merino genetics research resource. The selection lines at Trangie were established at a time when such an experimental approach was uncommon, even in laboratory animals. This original design in 1951 provided the main thrust for much of the Trangie research that followed. His exactitude in design, analysis and interpretation of data has been freely shared with other scientists across many disciplines. Never one to resist a challenge, one can think of few others who, after making such a large contribution to sheep genetics, would then attempt to provide a quantitative basis to pasture utilisation and aspects of veterinary science.
For his past and continuing contributions to animal breeding in Australia, the Australian Association of Animal Breeding and Genetics is pleased to elect Fred Morley to a Fellowship of the Association.