STILLWATER, Okla. — Bradley 3 Ranch’s Minnie Lou Bradley, among five other recipients, will accept the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Distinguished Alumni Award at a public reception hosted by the OSU Alumni Association at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center today, Friday, Sept. 9, as well as honored on the field during the OSU vs. Arizona State football game on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Boone Pickens Stadium.
Bradley, who currently resides in Memphis, graduated from OSU – then Oklahoma A&M – in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry. When she enrolled in 1949, she was the first female to enroll in animal husbandry in the university’s history.
During her time on campus, she was also the first female to compete on the Oklahoma A&M Livestock Judging Team and became one of the most successful livestock judges at the college.
After graduation, Bradley worked for the Texas Angus Association as an assistant to the executive secretary and a fieldman, as well as for Angus Valley Farms in Tulsa, Okla. in 1954.
The following year, Bradley married her husband, Bill, and the couple purchased a ranch in Childress County and began Bradley 3 Ranch with 20 cows and 3,300 acres.
In 1986, the Bradleys started B3R Country Meats, Inc., the first beef processing facility to produce beef for the Certified Angus Beef brand Natural, which allowed the family to produce high-quality beef while providing ranchers with a values- based system. The same year, the Bradley 3 Ranch created a system for collecting ultrasound and carcass data to develop more predictable genetic packages.
Honored many times throughout her life, Bradley was named a Graduate of Distinction by the OSU Department of Animal Science in 1988 and was presented the Master Breeder Award by the department in 2010, as well as the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (DASNR) Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015.
In addition to honors from her alma mater, Bradley was also the second woman inducted into the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery in 2014. She has also been named aTop 40 Cattleman by “Beef Magazine,” was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and received the Seedstock Commitment Award.
Bradley, a member of the OSU Alumni Association, has one daughter, Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson, who alongside her husband, James Henderson, helps run the ranch.
The Oklahoma State University Alumni Association serves more than 250,000 alumni, students and friends with programs for Cowboys of all ages.Through the Alumni Association, Cowboys get involved with the OSU family, stay informed of alumni and campus news, give back to support university initiatives and show their pride in America’s brightest orange.
