2008 Hall of Fame Inductee
Taylor H. Haynes, M.D.

Taylor Henry Haynes, M.D.

2008 Hall of Fame Inductee

Taylor Haynes is a man who believes that it is character, not color that makes a difference when it comes to achieving goals and contributing to the community. He was born in 1946 and raised by his parents, Taylor and Lourie Haynes, on a produce farm in Louisiana, along with three sisters and one brother. He learned that hard work, honesty, and self-discipline were the keys to achieving whatever goals he set his mind on. Dr. Haynes put himself through college and post-graduate studies by working as a laborer on a freight dock and as a stevedore. He married Barbara Brumfield in 1968 and began raising a family of four children Kenya, Ayodele, Taylor III, and Enioma. After graduating with a mechanical engineering degree from Southern University in 1969, he accepted an engineering job in Salt Lake City Utah at the Kennecott Copper Corporation Research Center.

In a search for greater autonomy in his career, Dr. Haynes left his engineering position and began medical school at the University of Utah while also supporting his young family. After completing his surgical residency in Urology, he moved to Cheyenne Wyoming to open his medical practice. He ran a very successful urology practice and became highly respected by his patients and other physicians in the community. Dr. Haynes published several papers in major surgical journals and patented a Surgical Stapler. Dr. Haynes is a Certified Trauma surgeon and although retired still is an instructor of Advanced Trauma Life Support training for Doctors.

After living in Cheyenne for a few years, he once again felt the need to return to his roots in agriculture and purchased a ranch to start up a cow-calf operation. Subsequent to his first wife’s death in 1998, Dr. Haynes married Elisabeth Wasson in 2002, and she joined him on his ranch, Thunderbasin Land Livestock and Investment Company. The ranch is certified organic and the cattle are all natural, grass-fed. He has single-handedly grown the ranch to be a significant producer, selling organic beef all along the front range of Wyoming and Colorado.

In addition to his career accomplishments, Dr. Haynes has contributed a tremendous amount to the community. He worked closely with the Bishop of the Dioceses of Cheyenne to keep the doors of Seton Catholic High School open, and then served as president of the Board of Trustees for the school. He was appointed by Governor Geringer of Wyoming to serve on the Board of Trustees of the University of Wyoming and after his six-year term expired, was reappointed by Governor Dave Freudenthal for another six years. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors of Security First Bank and the Wyoming Chapter of the Nature Conservancy Board of Directors. Dr. Haynes accomplishments in the field of agriculture are many. He has served as the President of the Laramie County Stock Growers Association, the President of the Pole Mountain Grazing Association and the Vice President of Wyoming Stock Growers Association. In 2006 he was presented with the Award of Merit by the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture for his contributions in the field. Also in 2006, he worked with several other ranchers to found the Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming (ICOW), an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the Wyoming ranching industry.

Dr. Haynes has worked tirelessly to inform and educate his fellow ranchers about such issues as eminent domain legislation, endangered species activities, and protection of property rights. By holding “town hall meetings” in his community and around the state, he has organized and provided leadership to ranchers and community members so they can present a united front regarding legislative issues that impact their quality of life and livelihood. Dr. Haynes’ volunteer activities include teaching an annual workshop at the University of Wyoming on Diversity in Agriculture, which has become so popular that it now must be held in an auditorium large enough to accommodate the audience of several hundred students and guests. In 2007, Dr. Haynes was proud to watch the installation of a monument honoring the Buffalo Soldier in a Cheyenne park, due in a large part to his leadership in spearheading the project.

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