UGA researchers receive honor Special legislative recognition

UGA researchers receive honor

Georgia House and Senate special legislative recognition

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 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.

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 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.”

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’.”

UAC congratulates Drs. Hanna and Schwartz on this outstanding achievement, and the entire UGA turfgrass team for the research that they do. Hanna spoke to that, saying, “Georgia has a unique situation, we’ve got a team effort. It’s not just one person or one organization. I’ve traveled around the world, and most places envy the system that we have here.” Schwartz complimented his mentor and is proud to have the honor of “continuing the hard work that Dr. Hanna started from the 1970s onward, there’s been many important grasses from Tifton.”

Watch the video

Be sure to watch the video of the presentation, and don’t miss the ending, where Hanna laughs and questions, “Why are they honoring us before the Senate and the House? I mean, we just did our jobs!” View the video UAC - SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE RECOGNITION here:

https://youtu.be/3D68THKGaXM

The resolutions recognize the development of TIFTUF™, a drought-tolerant turf of exceptional quality.

Many thanks to Bryan Tolar, Tolar Capitol Partners, for assistance with the resolutions, presentation, and videography.

The easiest 5% you'll ever save!

UAC business-level members now can select the auto-recurring payment option for their annual membership investment and get an immediate 5% discount. NOTE: The auto-recurring payment option is available for credit card payments only. Your credit card automatically will be charged on your annual renewal date

It's easy: First, go to urbanagcouncil.com > Membership > Manage and click on "Log in as a member."

You will need to know the email address that is connected to your UAC membership. Not sure? Contact us and we'll look it up for you: 706.750.0350 or office@urbanagcouncil.com Don't know your password? Just click the "Request Password" button and a new password will be emailed to you.

Under the "About" tab, scroll down until you see the "Renew, Upgrade or Update Billing" button. Click on that button.

Select the "Credit Card - Auto Recurring (5% discount)" payment option and enter your credit card information. Note that this example has the investment amounts for a Contractor I membership. The amounts you see will depend on your membership level.