Delaware Valley University received a $25,000 grant for a new poultry science center on its main campus in Doylestown.

The grant has been funded through the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. The donation from Perdue’s charitable giving arm is part of the company’s Delivering Hope to Our Neighbors initiative focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities.

DVU plans to build a state-of-the-art poultry science center to develop a highly skilled workforce for the poultry industry. The center will provide a framework for a poultry science program and offer students onsite poultry experience. It will include a broiler building, layer building, and pen research trials building.

“The growth in the poultry industry has resulted in an increased demand for students educated in poultry science,” said Dr. Broc Sandelin, dean of agriculture and environmental sciences. Industry leaders have identified difficulties in filling roles within their operations. Despite the increased need for college-educated students in poultry science, academic programs in the country have declined.

“There are only six stand-alone poultry science departments in the United States,” he added. “These programs cannot produce the graduates required to sustain the industry. In addition to increasing student success in the industry and generating cost-effective research, the center will benefit the community by combating food insecurity with donated poultry products.”

The U.S. poultry industry is the world’s largest producer and second-largest exporter of poultry meat and a significant egg producer, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2020.

Kim Nechay, executive director of the Perdue Foundation, said Delaware Valley’s poultry science center will benefit the industry and consumers.

“A poultry science program at DVU will open new avenues for students and provide research that can help poultry producers,” she said. “Perdue is proud to support the Poultry Science Center.”

Learn more at Delaware Valley University.

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