Henry Classen
Award for Distinction in Outreach & Engagement - Spring 2008
Dr. Henry Classen's contributions to outreach and engagement were evident from his first days as a new faculty member nearly 30 years ago. Since his appointment, Dr. Classen has demonstrated outstanding and sustained effort through activities and programs on poultry management and nutrition designed to inform and involve external publics and partnerships about the core missions of the University of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Classen is an alumnus of the University of Saskatchewan and Professor and Head of the Department of Animal and Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources. His outreach and engagement accomplishments include numerous collaborations across disciplines, work with other universities and partnerships beyond the borders of the campus. The collaborations include working with engineers, animal species specialists, pathologists, medical doctors, plant scientists and physiologists. For over 25 years, he has developed relationships with individual producers, boards and processing plants through the University Poultry Extension Service, described as unique in Canada. He holds 8 patents granted and his involvement with the U of S Poultry Centre speaks to his strong research interests and his commitment to sustainability and economic development.
He has served as President of the Poultry Science Association, an international scientific association, and President of the Canadian Branch of the World's Poultry Science Association. In 2007, Dr. Classen was awarded the Poultry Science Association Fellow. He has received accolades and awards including the American Feed Industry Association Nutrition Research Award in 1993, the Alberta Poultry Serviceman of the Year Award in 1994 and was part of a team that received the Saskatchewan Award of Innovation in 2005. His commitment to teaching is evidenced by a group of graduate students who wrote in support of Dr. Classen that he "provides an atmosphere for his students that is powerful, stimulating and intellectually based" and the fact that he has received the College of Agriculture & Bioresources Professor of the Year award twice.
The industry has such great respect for his work that he has been asked to develop protocols and to conduct research to address industry-wide concerns. He has served on award and scholarship selection committees and a variety of boards and councils. One supporter wrote that Professor Classen "epitomizes the very best of how a university professor can seamlessly integrate the scholarship of teaching, learning, discovery, knowledge translation, outreach, professional practice, and leadership. All of his work is characterized by its interdisciplinary nature and by the strong connections that are sustained between the University and communities and businesses that make up the poultry industry."
