By Faith Peppers
Georgia Extension
Service
Four University of Georgia faculty members received the
prestigious D.W. Brooks Awards for Excellence Oct. 6 in
Athens, Ga.
The $5,000 annual awards recognize UGA College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences educators and researchers who excel in
teaching, research, extension and public service extension
programs. An award for international agriculture is given in
even-numbered years.
The 2003 winners are Mark Compton, teaching; Casimir Akoh,
research; Don Shurley, extension; and Reid Torrance, public
service extension programs.
The CAES sponsors the annual lecture and awards in memory of D.W.
Brooks, founder of Gold Kist, Inc., and Cotton States Mutual
Insurance Companies. Brooks was an advisor on agriculture and
trade issues to seven U.S. presidents.
Dennis Avery, a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, delivered
the 2003 D.W. Brooks Lecture, “Has America Already Lost
High-Yield Agriculture?” The lecture and awards presentations
were in the Mahler Auditorium of the Georgia Center for
Continuing Education.
a poultry science professor, was cited for his innovative
approach to teaching. He’s highly rated by students and
considered a leader in interactive, multidimensional education.
His lab exercises are the central focus of his courses. They
provide hands-on experiences that are intimately integrated with
lecture material. Even his testing approach is unique. Virtually
all of his exams include an oral question he evaluates one-on-one
with each student.
Students consider his “Avian Anatomy and Physiology” course among
the hardest at UGA. It’s highly unusual for students to give good
teaching evaluations to professors who teach tough courses. Yet
they consistently name him as one of the best teachers, if not
the best, they’ve ever had.
a food scientist, has made significant contributions in basic and
applied research in lipid modification. He has gained national
and international recognition for his work on fat substitutes,
structured lipids, flavor and fragrances.
Akoh discovered eight fat substitutes that compete with olestra
as zero- or reduced-calorie fats. Several have been patented. His
research resulted in more than 300 publications, and his work has
received more than $2.7 million in research funding.
He edited the first authoritative book on food lipids for
classroom use. Published in 1998 and as an updated second edition
in 2002, it’s used worldwide for lipid instruction.
an agricultural economist, is widely recognized as one of the
nation’s leading cotton economists. Shurley’s economic analysis
provides crucial information to guide Georgia cotton farmers’
decisions.
His work shows that farmers can improve their profits by $40
million annually with seed technology changes and by $88 million
with more timely defoliation and harvest.
His educational programming led the state’s cotton industry
through a period of rapid acreage expansion and political and
economic volatility. His educational efforts helped cotton
farmers through three farm bills and changes in trade policy.
The expansion of cotton acreage in Georgia created the need for
more ginning capacity. From 1993 to ’96, Shurley completed
feasibility studies for eight new cotton gins in Georgia, a $32
million investment.
has been an extension agent for 23 years, the last 19 in Tattnall
County. He has been an integral part of Vidalia onion crop’s
production since 1984.
Farmers, agribusinesses and research groups from all over the
world have sought his advice on growing, storing and marketing
onions. In the past five years, Torrance has written or
coauthored 77 publications, including 11 professional journal
articles.
He helped bring mechanical harvesting to the Vidalia onion
industry. He played a pivotal role in protecting the Vidalia
onion name. And he helped establish the Vidalia Onion and
Vegetable Research Center.
Torrance also he established a farmer cooperative, Farm Fresh
Tattnall, to promote the county’s pick-your-own and roadside
fruit and vegetable markets. He conducts trials in forestry,
peanuts, tobacco and many vegetables.
(Faith Peppers is a news editor with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
