Poultry Science News Flash

Graduation December 2006

BS Degrees

Erin Nicole Allgood                     SPS                 King, NC
Walter Graham Byrum                TPS                  Winterville, NC
John Davis Odell                        TPS                  Mt Airy, NC
Joshua Adam Smith                    TPS                 Goldsboro, NC

Graduate Degrees

Ph.D. (Physiology)
Maciej Chichlowski
"Effect of Probiotic Consortium on Level and Mechanism of Intestinal Function"
Major Professors: Drs. Jim Croom and Matt Koci

Ph.D. (Physiology)
Suparerk Borwornpinyo
"Production of Transgenic Chickens to Express Bacterial beta-Galactosidase and the Subsequent Utilization of Lactose in Feed"
Major Professors: Drs. Jim Petitte and Paul Mozdziak

Ph.D. (Animal and Poultry Science)
Fernanda Botaro de Oliveira Santos
"Dissertation title: Impact of poultry age, season, litter quality, and nutritional intervention strategies on Salmonella prevalence and populations, serotypes, genotypes, and antibiotic resistance profiles"
Major Professors: Drs. Brian W. Sheldon and Peter R. Ferket

Master of Poultry Science and Master of Nutrition (non-Thesis)
Sigfrido Burgos
Major Professor: Frank Edens

Address to the Graduates

I envy you today. Not just because you are 30 years younger than I am but for all that you will accomplish in the next 30 years. You stand at the beginning of a great journey. Frederick Buechner once said that Vocation is where the world's greatest need and a person's greatest joy meet.

I hope that will be true for each of you.  Some of you may recall my philosophy on determining ones life's work:  It may be somewhat simplistic, but I trust you will find something that you are good at, that you enjoy, that will pay you enough to live [and hopefully liver rather well], and that the world needs. It is our hope that some of those questions: what you are good at, what you enjoy, and what the world needs have been answered by the years here at NC State and Poultry Science in particular.  

The importance of knowing was summed up by Dwight Eisenhower when he noted that:
Ninety Five percent of achieving anything is knowing what you want and paying the price to get it.
We trust that "what you want" will be abundantly clear to you in the years ahead. Some of you and your parents made significant sacrifices and "paid the price"  to use the words of Eisenhower, to obtain your degree.  It cost money, four years of your life [and for some a little more], hours of study, and the anxiety of sweating out a CH 201 exam.

When you leave NC State today as a student, you will face far fewer formal tests and exams,  something I am sure that you will be happy to hear.  However, you will be judged, evaluated, critiqued, and reviewed daily.  To a large degree, your success will be determined by what you have learned here at NC State, what you will learn in the years to come, and by the quality of your character.
While there are many qualities of character, Pat Williams, the senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic lists 5 to consider:
Character is what you do when you think nobody is watching.
Character is how you treat people who can do absolutely nothing for you.
Character is how you behave during the petty aggravations of life.
Character is how you react when the pressure is on.
Character is deciding beforehand that you are going to do the right thing.

Warren Buffet, nicknamed the "Oracle of Omaha" and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the world's 2nd wealthiest individual according to Forbes magazine speaks to the ideal of character in this way:
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.  If you think about that, you'll do things differently."                                               

I could not close my comments today without offering one last poultry metaphor for you to consider.
While he is perhaps best known for is children's series, the Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis wrote these words that are fitting for a Poultry Science graduate.
It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

Today you have academically hatched.  Now go out and fly.  I will look forward to learning of your success in the future. - Dr. Sam Pardue, Head