Four University of Georgia faculty received the D.W. Brooks
Awards for Excellence Oct.
4 in Athens.

The $5,000 annual awards go to faculty in the UGA College of
Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences who excel in teaching, research and
extension.

The 1999 winners are Roger Wyatt, teaching; Scott NeSmith,
research; Elizabeth Andress,
extension; and Stephen Brady, county extension programming.

Roger Wyatt

Wyatt, a poultry science professor, was honored for his superb
classroom skills and as
a dedicated advisor to both undergraduate and graduate
students.

Wyatt started an upper-level course in mycotoxicology and
developed segments of two
graduate-level toxicology courses in an interdepartmental
graduate program. The program
offers students a major in toxicology at both the M.S. and Ph.D.
level.

He also started the Poultry Science Club for students and
"The Georgia
Poultryman," an annual publication designed to foster
communication with alumni and
to help recruit students for poultry science.

Scott NeSmith

NeSmith, a horticulture professor at the UGA Georgia
Experiment Station in Griffin,
helped transform a struggling crop into a growing part of
Georgia’s farm economy.

Blueberries suffered from erratic bloom and fruit set whenever
Georgia had a mild
winter. Because of NeSmith’s research, the industry is expanding
and is one of the most
competitive in the nation.

His studies first predicted flowering based on winter
temperatures, providing a clear
understanding of the physical mechanisms at work.

Further studies showed precisely how to use gibberellic acid
to increase yields up to
300 percent His work led to gains of more than $10 million to the
Southern blueberry
industry.

Elizabeth
Andress

Andress, a professor and extension leader in foods and
nutrition, has developed a
reputation as the foremost expert on home food preservation in
the United States and
Canada.

To help meet the public’s need to combat food-borne illnesses,
Andress developed
research-based educational programs related to food safety.

She helped develop and implement nutrition and food safety
training programs for school
food service staffs, including the annual School Nutrition
Culinary Institute for school
nutrition supervisors and managers, sponsored by the Georgia
Department of Education.

Steve Brady

Brady piloted a project in Gwinnett County to use satellite
communication to train
thousands of commercial pesticide applicators and landscape
professionals.

He also created Creative Enterprises Horticulture Therapy
Project. He and the Gwinnett
Master Gardeners designed the program to train physically and
mentally challenged adults
in basic horticulture skills that enable them to enter the work
force.

Brady spearheaded a program that converted more than 10,000
cubic yards of trees and
other yard waste into mulch. And his work with distance learning
made him a sought-after
conference speaker nationwide.

Brooks Lecture: Zell
Miller

Former Gov. Zell Miller was the featured speaker at the 1999
D.W. Brooks Lecture. In
his presentation, "Georgia: Gains and Gaps," Miller
said while Georgia is making
great strides in attracting new business and developing a booming
economy, but some
Georgians are being left behind.

"No other generation of Georgians," Miller said,
"has ever been in such
a promising position. We are the most dynamic state in the most
dynamic region in the most
dynamic economy in the world."

Miller said he doesn’t like to think of the down side.
"But ahead I can see a
hazardous split in our road," he said. "Along one path
we will find anger,
tension and increasing gaps between the haves and the have-nots.
And I’m not talking only
about a racial division. A class division scares me far
more."

The CAES sponsors the annual lecture and awards in memory of
D.W. Brooks, founder and
chairman emeritus of Gold Kist, Inc., and founder of Cotton
States Mutual Insurance
Companies.

Brooks, who died this summer, was an advisor on agriculture
and trade issues to seven
U.S. presidents.