LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky extension professor and Department of Animal and Food Sciences associate chair Anthony “Tony” Pescatore is the first recipient of the James H. Denton Distinguished Service Award. Pescatore was recently honored in Louisville at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Poultry Science Association (PSA). The PSA is a world-leading professional association dedicated to poultry science.

Pescatore was recognized for his decades of significant and continuous service to PSA’s success and advancement, along with his years of dedication to the poultry science industry and extension efforts at UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. This service award was recently created and named after poultry science service pioneer James H. Denton, Pescatore’s mentor while receiving his doctorate at Texas A&M University.

“It’s an honor to be the first winner of this new service award,” Pescatore said. “The award being named after one of my mentors and being honored in front of my friends and colleagues makes it even more special. It doesn’t get much better than that.” 

Since his first presentation as a student member at the 1977 PSA meeting, Pescatore has served in numerous capacities within the Poultry Science Association. He was elected second PSA vice president in 2001 and served as president in 2004. Pescatore served on the Board of Trustees for the PSA Foundation three times. 

Pescatore is a Fellow of the Poultry Science Association, receiving both the Pfizer Extension Award in 1993 and the Phibro Extension Award in 2015. He serves on the Board of Directors for the PSA Foundation and the World Poultry Science Association-USA branch. 

Pescatore has been with the University of Kentucky and UK Cooperative Extension Service for more than three decades. He has co-authored over 100 scientific articles, extension publications and conference proceedings. During his UK tenure, Pescatore worked with local and state government to recruit poultry operations to Kentucky which helped increase from a $25 million to $1.2 billion industry. 

Pescatore will soon be retiring as a faculty member, extension professor and Department of Animal and Food Sciences associate chair at the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

“As faculty, we all have a service component and providing meaningful service to others is our goal,” Pescatore said. “My purpose has been to make the poultry industry sustainable, efficient and profitable while respecting our environment. Poultry are the most efficient animals for creating protein and we have a lot of people in the world to feed.” 

For more about the PSA, visit https://www.poultryscience.org. To learn more about the Animal and Food Sciences department at Martin-Gatton CAFE, visit https://afs.ca.uky.edu.