The Agricultural Alumni Association honored its own at
its 45th annual awards banquet in Athens Sept. 24. Members
are graduates of the University of Georgia College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The late John William Firor Sr. was inducted into the
Agricultural Hall of Fame. Firor organized and chaired the
UGA Department of Agricultural Economics in 1929. He retired
in 1950.

The Award of Excellence honored Wilbur Mull, Lawrence
Risse and Ed Brown, all of Athens. This new award recognizes
alumni who excelled in their field.

Estes Reynolds, a UGA Extension Service food scientist
in Athens, received the Outstanding Faculty Award.

Firor joins an elite membership in the Ag Hall of Fame.
The honor recognizes his contributions to Georgia
agriculture.

Firor came to Georgia in 1912 with a horticulture
degree from the Maryland Agriculture College. He was known
as a gifted teacher who greatly influenced Georgia
agriculture through his students. Firor died in 1956.

The late D.W. Brooks, founder of Gold Kist, supported
Firor’s nomination. Brooks wrote, “If there is one person
that we have failed to name to the Agricultural Hall of Fame
who certainly needs to be included, it’s John William Firor
Sr. I personally feel that Professor Firor is one of the
great teachers we have had at the University of Georgia.”

Wilbur C. Mull is a national leader in the Green
Industry. He founded Classic Groundcovers, Inc., in Athens
in 1963. It has become the largest business of its kind, a
wholesale nursery specializing in groundcover-only plants.

The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce selected Mull as
the Small Business Person of the Year in 1999. Mull received
two degrees from UGA in agricultural economics.

Lawrence Risse conducted research around the world for
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He studied handling,
packaging and transportation of fruits and vegetables.

Risse was the research leader with the European Market
Research Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He retired in
1994 and manages his beef farm in Oconee County. His UGA
degrees are in animal science and ag economics.

Ed Brown coordinates the state extension program in
plant pathology. He is a respected expert in turf grass,
forestry and shade trees.

Brown has educated more than 500,000 people on disease
control and diagnostics. He helped develop the
internationally recognized Georgia Digital Diagnostics
project. He holds three degrees in plant pathology from UGA.

Estes Reynolds coordinates the outreach program for the
Department of Food Science and Technology and the Food
Process Research and Development Laboratory. He has
developed curriculums for the food industry.

Reynolds has worked with processors to produce
specialty foods and supply technical knowledge. He has his
doctorate in food science from UGA.