PSA Announces Awards, New Leadership at Centennial Meeting

August 22, 2008 – The Poultry Science Association (PSA) announced the induction of five PSA Fellows and more than 20 awards during a July awards banquet at its 2008 Centennial Annual Meeting. The banquet was one of the highlights of PSA’s annual meeting, held July 20 – 23 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  PSA also announced its new leadership roster for the upcoming year.

Over the course of the meeting, attendees had the opportunity to listen to 247 oral presentations, view 170 poster displays and attend seven disparate symposia.  Scientists from around the globe participated in scientific sessions and functions designed to encourage collaboration.  Overall attendance at the Centennial Meeting was up 6 percent from 2007, with a total of 723 registrants.
 
The meeting featured two symposia that were particular to the celebration of PSA’s 100th anniversary: one on landmark papers in poultry science over the last century, chaired by Dr. Robert L. Taylor, Jr., professor, University of New Hampshire, and a second focused on the future of poultry science, chaired by Dr. Mary Erin Delany, professor and chair, University of California – Davis.  The program also included an invited address by Dr. Paul B. Siegel of the World Poultry Science Association and Virginia Tech, entitled “The Poultry Scientist: Past, Present, and Future.”
 
New PSA Leadership
 
·        President: Michael P. Lacy, Dept. of Poultry Science, Univ. of Georgia
·        First Vice President: Sally Noll, Dept. of Animal Science, Univ. of Minnesota
·        Second Vice President: Michael S. Lilburn, OARDC, The Ohio State University
·        Secretary-Treasurer: Nickolas. G. Zimmermann, Dept of Animal/Avian Science, Univ. of            Maryland
·        Past President: John B. Carey, Dept. of Poultry Science, Texas A&M
·        Director: Theresia K. Lavergne, Agricultural Center, Louisiana State University
·        Director: E. Ernest M. Pierson, Danisco Animal Nutrition
·        Student Representative: Robert C. Van Wyhe,  Virginia Tech
 
Awards Banquet
 
“The program at the Centennial Meeting was outstanding, and it gave us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of PSA over the last century.  As the awards listed here show, the long history of many exceptionally talented poultry scientists conducting outstanding research, teaching, and extension programs continues.  PSA was proud to have the opportunity to honor these award recipients at our annual meeting,” said Prof. Michael Lacy, PSA’s new president.
 
Winners of this year’s awards and honors are listed below.  Details and biographical information about all of this year’s honorees will soon be available on PSA’s website: www.poultryscience.org.
 
Newly Elected Fellows of the Poultry Science Association
 
Each year PSA may select no more than five members as Fellows for their contributions to the field of poultry science.  This is the highest honor that PSA can bestow.  This year’s new Fellows of the Poultry Science Association were:
 
·        Anthony Pescatore, Ph.D. – Professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky.  Dr. Pescatore has co-authored 250 refereed journal articles, extension publications, conference proceedings, and abstracts and has appeared on nearly 400 television and radio programs. He has also served on review panels for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Food and Drug Association (FDA). The Kentucky Poultry Federation has named Dr. Pescatore to the Kentucky Poultry Hall of Fame.  In addition to numerous other responsibilities, he represented PSA on the founding board of directors of the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS). He serves on the editorial/review board of the Journal of Applied Poultry Research and has served as an associate editor for Poultry Science.
 
·        Frank Robinson, Ph.D. – Associate Dean (academic) of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life, and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta.  In addition to almost two decades of teaching, Dr. Robinson has been author or co-author of 96 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, 165 abstracts, two books, and 54 conference proceedings. Robinson led the Alberta Poultry Research Center (APRC) from its inception in 1986 until 2005, and it became the largest Canadian poultry research team.  He has encouraged learning through inquiry and has supervised 26 graduate students.  Robinson’s research has focused on reproductive efficiency in meat-type poultry.  He has received more than 25 individual teaching awards, including the Purina Mills Teaching Award (1995) and the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-food Award of Excellence for Education and Awareness (2005). In 2007, Robinson was named a Canadian 3M National Teaching Fellow. Along with the poultry group, he received the 2004 World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) Education Award. He was named to the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2006.
 
·        William W. Saylor, Ph.D. – University of Delaware.  Dr. Saylor joined the then Department of Animal Science and Agricultural Biochemistry at the University of Delaware in 1978 as assistant professor. He has served as assistant chair of the department, and for 7 years served as associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and as associate director of the Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station.  For nearly three decades, Saylor has taught animal nutrition is the recipient of numerous excellence-in-teaching awards.  For the past 10 years, his research has focused on exploring nutritional strategies for reducing nutrient emissions, especially phosphorus, to the environment through improved nutrient utilization.  Saylor was a 2008 recipient of the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. Medal of Achievement in recognition of his research and service to the poultry industry.
 
·        Brian Sheldon, Ph.D.  – Professor Emeritus, Departments of Food Science and Poultry Science, North Carolina State University.  Dr. Sheldon has mentored 16 Ph.D. students, 13 MS students and 3 postdoctorates and hosted 2 visiting scientists. He has authored or coauthored 78 publications in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals, 3 book chapters, 2 patents, 107 research abstracts, 51 manuscripts in published conference proceedings, 92 popular press articles, and 4 extension publications.  Sheldon’s multi-faceted research program has addressed numerous problems, including: the assessment of liquid and shell egg pasteurization treatments; the development of antimicrobial packaging systems, temperature biosensors, and on-farm pathogen intervention strategies; and the assessment of the ecology, genetic diversity, and growth and death behavior of Salmonella isolates.
 
·        Robert F. Wideman, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Arkansas.  Formerly a professor of poultry science at Penn State University, in 1993 Dr. Wideman moved to the University of Arkansas, where he continues to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in animal physiology.  Wideman received the Research Award from the Poultry Science Association in 1988, the National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award in 1999, and the University of Arkansas John W. White Research Award in 2002.  He has served on the board of directors of PSA and the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS), and was the president of FASS during 2001. In 2003 he was appointed by the US Secretary of Agriculture to the USDA Research, Economics and Education Task Force. In 2004 he was made associate director of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas.  Dr. Wideman has published 11 review articles and book chapters, 150 refereed journal articles, 100 technical or poultry industry articles, and he has three US patents.
 
 
Awards and Honors
 
·        Gita Cherian, Ph.D. – American Egg Board Research Award.  Dr. Cherian is currently an associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences and holds the Walther H. Ott Endowed Professorship in Poultry Science at Oregon State University, Corvallis.  She is actively involved in egg and poultry nutrition research with an emphasis on lipids and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
 
·        Douglas Korver, Ph.D. – American Feed Industry Association Poultry Nutrition Research Award.  Dr. Korver is a professor of poultry nutrition at the University of Alberta.  Recently, he has collaborated with other researchers at the University of Alberta to develop the indicator amino acid oxidation method for the determination of amino acid requirements of poultry. His other main area of research addresses avian bone metabolism.
 
·        J. Paul Thaxton, Ph.D.  – American Poultry Historical Society Award.  Dr. Thaxton was a professor of poultry science at Mississippi State University.  He was both an outstanding teacher and researcher at Mississippi State and, earlier in his career, at North Carolina State University. His research included studies on the influence of environmental factors on development and expression of immune competence in broilers, layers, Japanese quail, and turkeys.  In 1985, with H. V. Smith, he founded Embrex Inc., which developed and commercialized the first system to deliver vaccines and biologics to embryonating eggs.
 
·        Sandra G. Velleman, Ph.D. – Embrex Fundamental Science Award.  Dr. Velleman is a professor at The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), where her research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating muscle growth in chickens and turkeys, with an emphasis on extracellular matrix gene expression.
 
·        Jason C. H. Shih, Ph.D. – Evonik Degussa Award for Achievement in Poultry Science.  Dr. Shih is a professor at North Carolina State University.  He developed a genetic model for the study of atherosclerosis using Japanese quail and discovered a linkage of the disease with latent infection of a herpes virus. He also pioneered the study of thermophilic anaerobic digestion of poultry waste and established a holistic farming system to harvest biogas energy and nutrient resources from animal waste.
 
·        Young Min Kwon, Ph.D. – Hy-Line International Research Award.  Dr. Kwon is a professor in the Dept. of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas.  His current research focuses on the genetic and genomic analyses of bacterial pathogens important in poultry to understand the mechanisms of persistence and virulence.
 
·        David J. Caldwell, Ph.D. – Land O’Lakes/Purina Mills Teaching Award.  Dr. Caldwell has been a faculty member in the Departments of Poultry Science and Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University since January 1997, holding teaching and research appointments in both departments.
 
·        Don Dalton – Merial Distinguished Poultry Industry Award.  Mr. Dalton is past president of the US Poultry & Egg Association; as president, he was instrumental in creating the US Poultry & Egg Foundation, later re-named for Harold Ford, his predecessor. The Foundation’s specific mission is to foster and fund poultry science, research and education.  Prior to joining US Poultry, Dalton spent five years in the commercial egg business and 15 years employed by Valmac Industries, now a part of Tyson Foods, where he held a variety of senior management positions.
 
·        Martin J. Zuidhof, Ph.D. – National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award.  Dr. Zuidhof is a poultry research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.  He has developed a broiler chicken supply chain model that is used to evaluate the economic impact of management decisions anywhere along the broiler supply chain. This software tool has been used to support industry decisions, leading to greater efficiencies. The efforts of his program have been magnified by a communication plan with broiler producers, hatching egg producers, hatcheries, and primary breeding companies.
 
·        Sally Noll, Ph.D. – National Turkey Federation Research Award.  Dr. Noll has been a professor and extension animal scientist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul since 1985.  She develops extension programs directed toward the turkey industry in the state and conducts applied research in turkey management and nutrition. Her applied research program in nutrition has focused on improving turkey meat yield through nutrition and specifically examining the protein nutrition of alternative feed ingredients.
 
 
·        Casey W. Ritz, Ph.D. – Phibro Extension Award.  Dr. Ritz in an associate professor and extension poultry scientist in the Department of Poultry Science at The University of Georgia.  His primary focus has been the development of educational and research programs, with emphasis on poultry production management and environmental issues involving waste management and nutrient management planning.
 
·        Kenneth S. Macklin, Ph.D.  – PSA Early Achievement Award for Extension.  Dr. Macklin joined the faculty of the Department of Poultry Sciences at Auburn University in 2005 and immediately established his extension program in the area of poultry health. His efforts have included educating the general public about H5N1 avian influenza and on the importance of good on-farm biosecurity as a method to curtail disease. A major portion of his current research and extension program involvement has centered on methods to prolong the use of poultry litter and methods to minimize on-farm pathogens.
 
·        Victoria R. Sikur – PSA Early Achievement Award for Industry.  Ms. Sikur is the food safety officer of Canadian Hatching Egg Producers (CHEP), Canada’s national organization representing broiler hatching egg producers, and is responsible for the management of the on-farm food safety system for broiler breeder producers nationally.
 
·        Hsiao-Ching Liu, Ph.D. – PSA Early Achievement Award for Research.  A geneticist by training, Dr. Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science at North Carolina State University.  Her research interests have focused on characterizing the role of both viral and host factors in Marek’s disease virus (MDV) pathogenesis.  Liu and her team’s findings suggest that a new and novel mechanism may regulate the expression of a gene that governs tumorigenesis in virally infected cells – a finding of importance for both virology and biomedical research.
 
·        Alejandro Corzo, Ph.D. – PSA Early Achievement Award for Teaching.  Dr. Corzo is a member of the Department of Poultry Science at Mississippi State University.  In addition to being actively involved in the teaching of the department, he currently advises one Ph.D. student and one master’s student and co-advises four master’s students.
 
·        A. Bruce Webster, Ph.D. – Poultry Welfare Research Award.  A professor in the Poultry Science Department of the University of Georgia, Dr. Webster’s research has addressed many aspects of poultry welfare, including the genetic variation of fear-related behavior in egg-type chickens, behavior of caged laying hens, enrichment of cages for laying hens, humane on-farm killing of flocks of spent laying hens, and welfare aspects of controlled atmosphere stunning and electrical stunning of chickens.
 
 
·        Felicity Dennis – Tyson Food Support Personnel Award.  Ms. Dennis has worked at the Poultry Research Centre of the University of Alberta since 1989, where she has been immersed in poultry research, teaching, and extension. Over the span of her university career, she has assisted over 40 graduate students in many poultry programs.
 
Honorary Members of PSA
 
Honorary Membership is awarded to those who are not PSA members but have, over a period of many years, distinguished themselves through exceptional contributions to the advancement of poultry science or the poultry industry.  This year’s honorary members were Fred Adams Jr., a co-founder of Cal-Maine Foods Incorporated, and Don Shaver, founder of Shaver Poultry Breeding Farms Ltd.
 
Student Research Awards
 
·        Heather K. Burley – Maurice Stein Fellowship Award.  Ms. Burley is currently working on completing her MS in animal science with a minor in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University.
·        Elizabeth R. Gilbert– Alltech Student Research Manuscript Award.  Ms. Leone is currently in the final stage of completing a PhD in poultry nutrition at Virginia Tech.
 
There were also numerous winners of Student Research Certificates of Excellence and the Nicholas Student Paper Award for Turkey Research.  Please see www.poultryscience.org for further information.
 
2009 Annual Meeting
 
The 2009 PSA Annual Meeting, which will be the 98th annual meeting of PSA, will be hosted by North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, July 20-23, 2009.
 
About PSA
 
The Poultry Science Association (PSA) is a global scientific society dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge generated by poultry research – knowledge that enhances human and animal health and well-being and provides for the ethical, sustainable, and economical production of food.  Founded in 1908, PSA has a global membership of about 3,500.  For more information, go to www.poultryscience.org.