The Auburn University Agricultural Alumni Association will honor five people who have made "significant contributions to the state’s agricultural industry" at the 2016 Alabama Agricultural Hall of Honor banquet, according to a University press release.
This year’s Hall of Honor inductees are Jim Cravey, recipient in the agribusiness sector; Wayne Thames, production-sector honoree; and Stanley Wilson, education/government inductee. Pioneer Awards will be presented to the families of the late Walter “Sonny” Corcoran and the late Ralph Harris.
Cravey has held various leadership positions with the Alabama Farmers Federation during his 34 years there, according to the release. He retired in 2004 as Commodity Department senior director and Dairy Division director. He temporarily returned to work in 2013 to serve as interim executive director of the Alabama Peanut Producers Association. He now operates a farm and hunting lodge in Covington County with his brother, Albert.
Thames is a cattle farmer and a member of the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame. He is a past president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and also served on the Alabama Agricultural Development Authority and USDA’s Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, the release states.
Wilson was assistant dean of Auburn’s College of Agriculture and associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station from 1975-80, when he was named the University’s vice president for agriculture, home economics and veterinary medicine, the release states. The Andalusia native was also a cattleman who, on retiring from that operation in 2001, donated his Angus herd and all his farming equipment to the College of Agriculture’s Beef Teaching Unit. The unit was named in his honor.
Harris spent more than 40 years as a faculty member and then department head in Auburn’s Department of Animal Sciences. He taught animal nutrition and was a favorite among students, according to the release. Harris was also a member of the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame.
Corcoran was a farmer who played a key role in the implementation of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in Alabama, according to the release. He held leadership roles in numerous organizations, including the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Alabama Peanut Producers Association and the National Cotton Council.
The banquet is set for Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Hotel & Conference Center at Grand National. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by the banquet at 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person.
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