Respected teacher and innovative thinker.
1909-1985 | Artist: Jack K. Hodgkin (born 1936)
Impact & Accomplishments
Wesley Garrigus followed a path similar to his father, H. L., attending undergraduate school in Storrs before heading to the University of Illinois for his Ph.D. He completed his doctorate in 1935.
In 1937, he accepted an appointment to the Animal Industry Group at the University of Kentucky, and in 1941, was named chairman of the department. The academic program expanded under his leadership to a Ph.D.-granting level. Research during his tenure advanced the Kentucky cow-calf program, forage-fed beef, and performance testing. Dr. Garrigus’s feed studies, using by-products from Kentucky’s distillery industry, received the Distinguished Nutritionist Research Award from the Distiller’s Research Council in 1964.
Dr. Garrigus retired from the university in 1974, and soon after, participated in the transfer of the Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Collection to Louisville. As its first curator, he prepared biographies of all inductees. Dr. Garrigus was, himself, honored as a portrait recipient by the American Society of Animal Science.
Did You Know?
Dr. Garrigus' early and undergraduate years involved traditional 4-H participation. He successfully exhibited grand championship livestock (Beef, 1922), and his involvement with shearing led to his improvising a commercial-style shearing team to supplement his college funds.
Dr. Garrigus' interest in sports earned him recognition as an all state center in high school football.
The W.P. Garrigus Building, or the Agricultural Science Center South, houses offices of the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture.
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