Paul B. Siegel

Chicken Hill poultry barns named for Paul Siegel

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Insights Editor

If you have traveled on Tech Center Drive lately, you may have noticed a new sign at the poultry barns on Chicken Hill. In acknowledgement of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Paul Siegel’s service, generosity, and academic legacy, and in recognition of past and future benefits to the university, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has named the poultry research facilities the Paul B. Siegel Poultry Research Center. A dedication ceremony is planned for May 2012.

Siegel is a longtime faculty member at Virginia Tech in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences and has served the university for more than 50 years.

He has significantly advanced the quality of poultry education and research through his mentorship initiatives and lifetime commitment to the education and development of poultry industry professionals. His tremendous academic accomplishments include teaching more than 2,000 students and directing more than 50 master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

Siegel’s research and teaching focus on the effects of selection on growth, reproduction, and immunology of chickens. He has published more than 400 journal articles, books, chapters, and reviews involving the role of genetics on the nutrition, disease, immunology, physiology, and behavior of poultry.

The American Poultry Historical Society inducted Siegel into the American Poultry Industry Hall of Fame — the industry’s highest honor — for devoting more than 60 years to researching and teaching poultry science. He also recently received an honorary doctorate from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden.