The award is presented to a public servant of an agency or of an organization for outstanding achievement and service on behalf of the poultry industry. Recipients are honored for their contributions of time and services to the poultry industry and for participation in civic work and other community activities.
"It is a great feeling to have your work in support of such an important industry recognized and to have your name added to the list of many notable previous Medal of Achievement awardees," Pope said. "I have been providing diagnostic and research histopathology support to the Delmarva poultry industry for approximately 20 years, with my main interactions being with diagnostic laboratory and company poultry veterinarians. To receive this award in the presence of such a large audience to include growers, DPI officials and staff, veterinarians, company executives and politicians is an event and honor that my wife and I will always remember."
Pope is a graduate of the veterinary school at Tuskegee Institute and served as a senior veterinary pathology adviser in Vietnam in the 1970s. Based in Saigon, he helped local farmers with disease diagnosis and control. After returning from Vietnam, he became a highly regarded pathologist and administrator in the U.S. Army.
Upon leaving military service, Pope became a professor of poultry pathology at UD in 1987. At UD, he has designed courses and conducted basic experimental studies in poultry. His research interests include veterinary pathology and histology with an emphasis on avian diseases and avian histology. He has worked extensively in the histopathology of avian infectious diseases concentrating on the lymphoid system and diagnostic avian histopathology.
He has also been active in examinations of commercial chickens, writing more than 600 pathology reports on broiler cases in 2005, of which 473 were from Delmarva poultry companies.
In announcing the award, DPI Vice President Wayne Evans said, “Providing practical information on poultry diseases from the microscopic perspective has been his goal in helping students and colleagues in academia, government and the poultry and allied industries.”
Article by Beth Thomas