FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Billy M. Hargis, veterinarian and director of the Poultry Health Lab for the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has been named a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association. Hargis was recognized at the PSA annual meeting held recently in Louisville.

The title of Fellow is the highest recognition PSA can bestow on a member and is granted for professional distinction and contributions to the field of poultry science without concern to longevity. A unanimous vote by the board of directors of PSA is required to elect any nominee as a Fellow.

"I was deeply honored to be nominated and elected by my peers for this recognition," Hargis said. "I have been blessed to be surrounded by incredible students, colleagues, technical staff and administrative support during my career, and I attribute this recognition very largely to them."

Hargis joined the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science in 2000. His research interests are poultry health, food safety intervention and poultry immunology and endocrinology. The poultry science department and the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science include a complex of teaching, research and extension facilities at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center and the John W. Tyson Poultry Science Building on campus. The department provides the curriculum for B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs.