UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dr. William (Bill) D. Weaver, Jr., former head of the Department of Poultry Science, will be honored by Penn State’s Department of Animal Science with its 2016 Poultry Science Distinguished Alumnus award on April 29 with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. at the University Park Campus. He will also be recognized at the Poultry Science Club’s annual Spring Awards Banquet that evening at Celebration Hall, State College.
Weaver retired in 1998 after serving 36 years as a member of the faculties of Virginia Tech University (29 years) and Penn State University (seven years). He served as a teacher, scientist, graduate student advisor and extension specialist. He served as head of the Department of Poultry Science at Penn State for seven years, and retired as a full professor.
A native of Gloucester County, Virginia, he received his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Virginia Tech, and his Ph.D. from Penn State.
“It is an honor for us to recognize Bill for the outstanding contributions he has made to the poultry industry throughout his academic career,” said Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Animal Science. “We are especially proud of the leadership he provided to the Department of Poultry Science at Penn State.”
“I was both honored and humbled when I learned that I had been selected for this most special award,” Weaver said. “My Penn State days have always been special for Madelyn and me, both as a graduate student and as a faculty member and department head. How great it will be to visit State College and campus after being away almost eighteen years!”
In addition to his leadership within the universities, Weaver was Co-Editor in Chief for the Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2001-2003, and was Co-Editor of the Commercial Chicken Meet and Egg Production, 2002, pages 1-1365.
Active within the Petsworth Baptist Church, he has been a deacon, serving twice as chair, was an adult Sunday School Teacher and chaired the Finance Committee.
He is chair of the Gloucester County Civil War Commemoration Committee and the Edge Hill House Foundation, and vice-chair of the Gloucester County Historical Society and the Gloucester County Educational Foundation. He is a member of the Gloucester County History Committee, past president and Paul Harris Fellow with the Gloucester Point Rotary Club and is a member of the Gloucester Main Street Association Façade and Interior Grants Committee.
Weaver has been married to Madelyn Ramsburg Weaver for 53 years and they have two daughters and three grandchildren.
— Penn State University