Athens, Ga. – Jo Luck, 2010 World Food Prize laureate and former president and CEO of Heifer International, will be the keynote speaker at the annual University of Georgia D.W. Brooks Lecture on Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. in Masters Hall of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
Luck’s presentation is titled “How a Goat Named Mugisa Transformed the Life of an African Girl.”
Under Luck’s leadership, Heifer International grew its budget from $7 million to more than $130 million. This was done primarily through Luck’s introduction of the Heifer International Gift Catalog, in which individuals can purchase livestock for poor families around the world. The global organization works to end poverty and hunger by providing families with income-providing animals. Since 1944, Heifer International has helped more than 70.5 million people in over 125 countries.
Luck’s efforts earned her the honor of being named co-winner of the 2010 World Food Prize. She shared the honor with David Beckmann, head of Bread for the World. The World Food Prize is the foremost international award that recognizes the achievements of those who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world.
The D.W. Brooks Lecture will precede the presentation of this year’s D.W. Brooks Faculty Awards for Excellence. The awards are given annually to UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty members who excel in teaching, research, extension and public service.
The awards were established in 1981 to recognize excellence in the CAES teaching program. In 1983, it expanded to include research, extension and county extension programs. An award for global programs was added in 1988 and is presented in alternate years.
The lecture and awards are named for the late D.W. Brooks, the founder of Gold Kist, Inc. Brooks was an adviser to seven U.S. presidents on agriculture and trade issues. He also started Cotton States Mutual Insurance Companies in 1941 to provide insurance for farmers. The CAES sponsors the annual lecture series in his memory.
For more information on the lecture, see http://www.caes.uga.edu/events/dwbrooks/.
