Poultry Scientist Billy Hargis Retires After Career of Scientific Innovation, Mentorship

If it peeps, clucks, crows or gobbles, Billy Hargis wanted to know what disease threatened it and how to stop it.

After more than 40 years of research and teaching, the veterinarian and Distinguished Professor of poultry science with the U of A Division of Agriculture has moved on to a new phase in his life: retirement and the freedom to travel without answering emails.

"My wife and I are going to travel as much as we can for as long as we can," Hargis said, fresh off a three-week trip riding the rails in Europe.

Ultimately, the travels will reconnect him with some of his poultry research collaborators and their students, as it did in Belgium on the most recent trip. Another one is already planned for Scotland in May, where there's a conference he won't attend but will reconnect with his friends who are attending.

Over the course of his career, Hargis authored or co-authored more than 400 refereed scientific publications and developed poultry health technologies, including vaccines and probiotics that resulted in 22 licensed inventions, 34 disclosed inventions and 529 patent applications in 50 countries.

The international respect Hargis earned was reflected in 2024 when Canadian researchers at the University of Guelph named a newly discovered parasite species, Eimeria hargisi, in his honor.

The University of Guelph researchers, led by protozoologist John Barta, cited not only Hargis' scientific contributions but also his role in advancing coccidiosis research through the training and mentorship of future scientists.

Hargis was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2014, named a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association in 2015, served as president of the World's Poultry Science Association USA Branch from 2009 to 2011, and served as president of the Poultry Science Association during the 2018-2019 term. Hargis was elected as a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association in 2015.  

Of all his achievements, though, he points to the scores of students he mentored and collaborators he worked with as being the greatest sources of fulfillment.

"There have been a lot of fabulous graduate students and postdocs," Hargis said. "If I ever did anything well, it was choosing good people to work with, and any success I had was because of how broad my background was, between production and physiology and infectious disease."

Building the Next Generation

Hargis moved from Texas A&M University to the U of A in 2000 to serve as director of the John Kirkpatrick Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory. The lab is part of UADA's research arm, the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. He was also affiliated with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science and held the Tyson Endowed Chair in Sustainable Poultry Health for 20 years, teaching courses in the Department of Poultry Science for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. 

His laboratories at Texas A&M University and the U of A became training grounds for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and visiting scientists from across the United States and abroad. He supported more than 80 graduate students as a major professor, co-chair or committee member and mentored numerous undergraduate researchers. 

Many of those former students now hold leadership positions in academia, government and industry. Among them is David Caldwell, who was advised by Hargis at Texas A&M University and is now head of the Department of Poultry Science for UADA.

What Caldwell remembers most about those days in graduate school with Hargis as his adviser was his dedication and natural ability to teach and conduct fundamental research that tied directly to solving problems in the poultry industry.

"He was always teaching, mentoring and advising, whether that was in the classroom, in the lab, in a commercial production facility or around a conference table," Caldwell said. "He was very effective at pulling everyone into the discussion to move an idea forward. When a student is just starting out, this can be intimidating, but it was a great way to learn about many diverse subjects."

Hargis retired as one of the most respected researchers, teachers and veterinarians focusing on health and disease challenges in commercial poultry, Caldwell added.

Danielle Graham, an assistant professor of poultry science who was advised by Hargis and now holds a key research role with UADA, said Hargis' influence extended far beyond his own work through the students and colleagues he mentored.

"Dr. Hargis has continually made significant contributions to the poultry industry, but his dedication to teaching, student development and research has also inspired many, including me, to pursue careers aligned with poultry health," Graham said. "He built a legacy that will never be forgotten."

From Minnesota to Arkansas

Hargis grew up near Chattanooga, Tennessee, but moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, after his sophomore year in high school when his father's company relocated him. A few years later, at the University of Minnesota, Hargis dabbled in pre-engineering and psychology before landing on animal science.

"By the time I finished my bachelor's, I had an offer from a professor, an endocrinologist, to move to the University of Georgia, and after so many winters in Minnesota, I was ready to go," Hargis said. "I liked all animals, but he worked with poultry. And that looked like it was going to grow. And it has."

Although he was temporarily distracted by aquaculture, Hargis deferred acceptance to veterinary school in Minnesota to work on his master's in poultry science in Georgia because he "loved the research." He finished his master's in 1983 and moved back to Minnesota to earn his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1986, followed by a Ph.D. in animal physiology in 1987.

He went to Texas A&M in November 1987 to take an assistant professor role doing diagnostic work.

"My background is very broad, from animal physiology to reproduction to endocrinology, so that allowed me to have a lot of eclectic interests in research," Hargis said. 

He stayed in Texas for the next 13 years until he was recruited to the U of A by James Denton, then head of the Department of Poultry Science, who had moved from Texas A&M in the early 1990s.

"I was happy in Texas, but moving here was a good choice for the research opportunity," Hargis said. "I never looked back. The Division of Agriculture has uniformly done a fabulous job in all my 26 years here."

Preventing Disease Before It Starts

Perhaps no theme defined Hargis' career more than his determination to prevent disease before it could take hold. His research contributed to vaccine technologies targeting pathogens that pose significant threats to poultry health and production, including salmonella and avian influenza.

One technology platform he co-developed was later licensed by Pacific GeneTech, which used the innovation as the foundation for vaccines aimed at controlling salmonella, E. coli and coccidiosis while reducing reliance on antibiotics.

Hargis also contributed to technologies involving immune-enhancement strategies and hatchery pathogen control. His inventions ultimately resulted in patent protection in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore.

Pioneering Poultry Gut Health

In addition to vaccine development, Hargis became internationally known for his work on gut health, probiotics and disease resistance.

Much of his research focused on understanding how beneficial microbes could improve animal health and reduce susceptibility to disease.

One of the most visible outcomes of that work was ARGIS™, a Bacillus-based probiotic co-developed with KENT Nutrition Group and a partnership with Life Products, Inc. The probiotic was designed to improve gut health and feed efficiency in poultry and swine while helping animals better utilize nutrients.

The commercialization of the technology reflected a hallmark of Hargis' career — translating scientific discoveries into practical tools producers could use.

Meeting Emerging Challenges

In recent years, Hargis also helped lead research on Streptococcus gallolyticus, a bacterium that can cause infections in commercial turkeys. The work sought to improve the diagnosis of the disease while helping scientists better understand newly observed neurological symptoms associated with evolving strains.

To learn more about ag and food research in Arkansas, visit aaes.uada.edu. Follow the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station on LinkedIn and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

About the Division of Agriculture: The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system. 

The Division of Agriculture is one of 22 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses. 

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