INDUSTRY
UGA researchers receive honor
Georgia House and Senate special legislative recognition represents. Gaines stated, “it was an honor to introduce a resolution commending the work that you’ve done with TifTuf. It’s amazing, the work you are doing, and the water conservation is really important, obviously.”
Practicing social distancing during the presentation, from left: Representative Houston Gaines, Dr. Wayne Hanna, Dr. Brian Schwartz, and Senator John Wilkinson.
Senator John Wilkinson and Representative Houston Gaines joined
UAC MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2020
UAC Executive Director Mary Kay Woodworth on May 21, 2020 in Athens at the University of Georgia, to honor and present Dr. Wayne Hanna and Dr. Brian Schwartz with Senate Resolution 895 and House Resolution 1219, commending them on their work at UGA to create TifTuf turfgrass. The presentation was originally scheduled for late March in front of the entire General Assembly at the Georgia state capitol, when Covid-19 shutdown delayed the bestowing of these honors.
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Senator Wilkinson, who chairs the Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs committee and is an Appropriations subcommittee chair, said, “I’ve followed the money spent over the years, and I really think that some of the best investments we’ve made have been here at the University of Georgia, the Extension service and with the turfgrasses that have been developed. I know that the money we have invested has really been returned many times over to the state of Georgia.” Representative Gaines congratulated Hanna and Schwartz, and expressed appreciation for them travelling to Athens, the area he
Hanna and Schwartz’s research are located on the UGA Tifton Campus. In his 49th year at UGA, Hanna was gracious and humbled to receive the honors. He commented, “As I was driving up here this morning, I was thinking how we’ve made the full circle. Brian and I feel like we are working for the taxpayer. They are the ones who support this whole thing. Then you have the legislators, they appropriate the money through the university, which gives us the freedom to be creative, to develop these grasses and other inventions.” “Brian and I put a lot of work in. For TifTuf, we’ve put in 20 years before it went to the public. Then it’s the sod growers, they are the ones who are putting it out there – and guess what? It gets back to the taxpayers; it’s made the whole circle! My heart has always been serving the taxpayers.” ~ Dr. Wayne Hanna
Dr. Schwartz joined Hanna and UGA’s turfgrass team in 2009. “It’s a good opportunity to be at the University of Georgia, work for the state, and to be with people who have been at the university and the industry for so long.” “To be handed a project and a program that’s running for 40-50 years, it’s just a dream come true to me. When I got here in 2009, Dr. Hanna had a set of grasses and he said ‘you really need to study these, and drought (tolerance) is probably going to the be the most important trait you need to look to for the future’.” ~ Dr. Brian Schwartz
