Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin, Ph.D.
Animal Scientist and Autism Advocate
1947 -
INDUCTED 2012

Dr. Temple Grandin wears many hats – she is a Professor in Colorado State University’s Animal Sciences Department, a prolific writer, consultant, lecturer, designer and inventor of humane livestock-handling equipment.

Temple Grandin’s special relationship with animals began when she was a girl. During summers spent on her aunt’s cattle ranch, Grandin’s interaction with animals taught her coping skills to live with her condition on the autism spectrum. She invented a machine for calming herself that resembled squeezing systems used to calm cattle during branding. She advocates early intervention to address autism. Grandin is also a leading specialist and lecturer on autism spectrum disorder, a brain condition that she herself has had since birth. Believing that autistic and other special-needs people are “different, not less,” Grandin has identified special abilities and helped decode the thinking processes of both humans and animals.

I am different, not less.” — Dr. Temple Grandin