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THE POULTRY SCIENCE ASSOCIATION AWARDS TOP RESEARCHERS,
INDUSTRY LEADERS, AT 95^TH ANNUAL MEETING IN EDMONTON

New PSA Fellows, Honorary PSA Members, Leadership, Announced

SAVOY, IL (August 9, 2006) – More than 650 scientists from academia and industry gathered together for four days in mid-July to discuss research findings and challenges across an array of topics – from genomics to metabolism and nutrition to environment and management and animal welfare – all relating to poultry and poultry production. The Poultry Science Association's (PSA) 95^th annual meeting, held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, spotlighted the size and complexity of the behind-the-scenes research efforts, both pure and applied, that help undergird the success of today's poultry industries. And it drew attention to and honored a number of top scientists whose work is helping lay the foundation for future advancements in the industry.

PSA is a global scientific organization of more than 3,500 scientists and educators that serves the poultry industry (and related industries) by promoting the discovery and dissemination of knowledge generated by poultry research.

"PSA's annual meeting is an important opportunity for poultry researchers and others interested in poultry to gather in one place, in a science-intensive environment, to share information and stimulate new thinking about common challenges. The Internet, email and traditional print publications obviously remain critical vehicles for sharing information. However, we've found that the level of cross-pollination of ideas that occurs at our annual meetings, and the excitement this generates, makes these gatherings uniquely important events for PSA's members," said Dr. Andrew Giesen, PSA's newly-elected president.

New Board Members

Dr. Giesen, an employee of Novus International, Inc., replaces PSA's Immediate Past President, Dr. Sacit F. Bilgili, Auburn University. Additional new (or promoted) PSA Board Members include: First Vice President John Carey, Ph.D., Texas A&M University; Second Vice President Michael P. Lacey, Ph.D., University of Georgia; and Secretary-Treasurer Nickolas G. Zimmermann, Ph.D., University of Maryland.

Awards Banquet

"In addition to providing a setting for four days of meetings on the science of poultry science, another important aspect of the Annual Meeting is to use our annual awards banquet as an opportunity to recognize the work of new and veteran researchers, and other key contributors working for the betterment of the poultry industry. We are very proud of the impressive slate of this year's honorees" said Dr. Giesen.

Winners of this year's awards and honors are outlined below. Additional details and biographical information about all of this year's honorees is available at http://www.poultryscience.org/awards2006.asp.

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:

• John T. Brake, Ph.D. – William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Poultry Science, Physiology, and Nutrition, Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University.
• Nelson A. Cox, Ph.D. – Russell Research Center, Athens, Georgia.
• William Huff, Ph.D. – USDA –ARS, Poultry Production and Poultry Safety Research Unit within the Center for Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas.
• John Proudman, Ph.D. – USDA-ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland.
• Joseph M. Vandepopuliere, Ph.D. – Department of Poultry Science, University of Missouri.

Industry Honorees – Bo Pilgrim and Don Tyson

PSA awarded honorary PSA Lifetime Memberships to industry titans Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim, of Pilgrim's Pride, and Don Tyson, of Tyson Foods, for their exceptional contributions to the poultry industry.

Research Awards

• Steven C. Ricke, Ph.D. – American Egg Board Research Award, for his work on virulence and pathogenic characteristics of food-borne salmonellae. Dr. Ricke holds the Donald "Buddy" Wray Chair of Food Safety and is Director for Food Safety at the Institute of Food Science and Engineering at the University of Arkansas.
• Sally Noll, Ph.D. – American Feed Industry Association Poultry Nutrition Research Award, for her work on improving turkey meat yield through nutrition, most recently through research on the use of distillers' dried grains with solubles in market turkey diets. Dr. Noll is professor and extension animal scientist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
• J. Allen Byrd, Ph.D., DVM – Frank Perdue Live Poultry Food Safety Award, for his work on and development of techniques to reduce the incidence of potentially harmful pathogenic organisms delivered to the processing plant and originating from breeder or live operations. Dr. Byrd is Project Leader for Poultry Pre-Harvest Food Safety Research at the USDA's Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, in College Station, TX.
• Annie M. Donoghue, Ph.D. – Helene Cecil Leadership Award, for her important contributions in turkey physiology, semen preservation and food safety. She is Research Leader for the Poultry Production and Product Safety Unit at the USDA-ARS, located within the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas.
• William A. Dozier, Ph.D. – Hy-Line International Research Award, for outstanding poultry research, including the determination of dietary threonine needs of broilers from six – eight weeks of age. He is currently Research Animal Scientist at the USDA-ARS Poultry Research Unit at Mississippi State University.
• Hyun S. Lillehoj, Ph.D. – Merck Award for Achievement in Poultry Science, for work focused on the immunobiology of host-parasite interactions, vaccine development, mucosal immunology, and immunogenetics using avian coccidiosis and Salmonellosis as model systems. Dr. Lillehoj is a member of the ARS-USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.
• Roselina Angel, Ph.D. – National Chicken Council Broiler Research Award, for research that has had a strong economic impact on the broiler industry, including work on the effects of poultry production on the environment. She is a member of the Department of Animal and Avian Scientists at the University of Maryland.
• Sandra G. Velleman, Ph.D. – National Turkey Federation Research Award, for her outstanding record of turkey research – she is author or co-author of 23 full-length peer-reviewed papers with turkeys as the experimental animal. Dr. Velleman is a member of The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).
• Nicolas M. Dale, Ph.D. – Phibro Extension Award, for establishing an internationally recognized program in feed evaluation. Dr. Dale is a faculty member of the University of Georgia's Poultry Extension Program.
• Inmaculada Estevez, Ph.D. – Poultry Welfare Research Award, for her research relating to the evaluation of animal comfort and management under conditions that can be applied to the commercial production of poultry. Dr. Estevez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland.
• David H. Baker, Ph.D. – FASS-AFIA New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition Award, for his pioneering and innovative research relevant to the nutrition of animals that benefits mankind and on the nutritional value of foods from animals. Dr. Baker is Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and University Scholar at the University of Illinois.

Student Research Awards

• Vanessa K. Kretzschmar-McCluskey – Maurice Stein Fellowship Award. This award, given to a graduate student, recognizes Ms. Kretzschmar-McCluskey's work on the natural prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis in the shell eggs of laying hens. She is pursuing her Ph.D. studies at Auburn University.
• Craig D. Coufal, Ph.D. – Alltech Student Research Manuscript Award. The award is given to a student author for his or her presentation and publication as senior author of an outstanding research manuscript in Poultry Science or The Journal of Applied Poultry Research. Dr. Coufal is now an assistant extension professor in the Department of Poultry Science at Mississippi State University.

Non-Research Awards

• Louis C. Arrington – American Poultry Historical Society Award, for his more than 30-years' efforts to collect and preserve poultry-related literature and artifacts.
• Mark M. Compton, Ph.D. – Land O'Lakes/Purina Mills Teaching Award, for his history of excellence in teaching. Dr. Compton is a faculty member of the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia.
• Karen V. Schwean-Lardner – Tyson Foods Support Personnel Award, in recognition for many contributions at the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan, and to its College of Agriculture and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

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.