Events & Programs
Temple Grandin, Ph.D.
Updated February 2011
Temple Grandin is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. She currently teaches at Colorado State as a professor of Animal Sciences and lectures around the world on autism and cattle heandling.
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Symposium
Dr. Temple Grandin is a professor of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University. Dr. Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College: she earned her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University and was awarded her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Temple's achievements are remarkable because she is a woman with autism. In fact, Temple Grandin is the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world. Her fascinating life, with all its challenges and successes has been brought to the screen in her HBO biopic, "Temple Grandin," which won numerous awards and accolades at the 62nd Emmy Awards in August 2010.
Dr. Grandin didn't talk until she was three and a half years old, communicating her frustration instead by screaming, peeping, and humming. In 1950, she was diagnosed with autism and her parents were told she should be institutionalized. She tells her story of "groping her way from the far side of darkness" in Emergence: Labeled Autistic, a book which stunned the world because, until its publication, most professionals and parents assumed that an autism diagnosis was virtually a death sentence to achievement or productivity in life.
Even though she was considered "weird" in her young school years, she eventually found a mentor, who recognized her interests and abilities. Dr. Grandin later developed her talents into a successful career as a livestock-handling equipment designer, one of very few in the world. She has now designed the facilities in which half the cattle are handled in the United States, consulting for firms such as Burger King, McDonald's, Swift, and other companies on animal welfare.
In 2010, Temple was named by TIME Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world. As Managing Editor of TIME Magazine, Rick Stengel has said of the list in the past, "The TIME 100 is not a list of the most powerful people in the world, it's not a list of the smartest people in the world; it's a list of the most influential people in the world. They're scientists, they're thinkers, they're philosophers, they're leaders, they're icons, they're artists, they're visionaries. People are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people." Temple was also listed as one of twenty-five "Heroes" of 2010, with the author of "Heroes," a professor at Harvard University, writing, "What do neurologists, cattle, and McDonald's have in common? They all owe a great deal to one woman ... Temple Grandin ... an extraordinary source of inspiration for autistic children, their parents — and all people."
