According to a University of Georgia release, the Department of Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences has received gifts and pledges totaling $2.6 million from the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation.  Part of the gift will establish an endowed professorship with the current department head Dr. Todd Applegate named as the first recipient with the position linked to the Department Head in perpetuity. 

Dr. Nick Place, Dean and Director of the College noted, “We are grateful for the partnership with the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation and their commitment to the Department of Poultry Science.  This Harrison Professorship will, over time, become the first Distinguished Chair in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences that elevates and recognizes the critical work done in the Department of Poultry Science.”

The funding of the Distinguished Professorship follows a previous $1 million gift from the R. Harold and Patsy Harrison Foundation that pledged towards the new Poultry Science building. The Foundation was established by Bobbie Ann Harrison Reynolds to honor her parents R. Harold and Patsy Harrison in 2019.