History of the Department

The Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences has long been recognized by its peers at other land grant universities and for delivering a high quality and balanced teaching, research, and Extension programs for its students, the livestock and poultry industries, and the professions that it serves.

The Department of Animal Husbandry was one of the first departments established at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1904 and was followed not long after with the formation of the Department of Poultry Husbandry in 1921. During the next 40 years strong teaching and Extension programs were established in the areas of animal and poultry production.

In the late 50's and early 60's, the two departments developed strong research programs in genetics, physiology, and nutrition and appropriately changed their names to the Department of Animal Science and the Department of Poultry Science, respectively in 1963.

Over the next 30 years, the two departments conducted balanced teaching, research, and extension programs that gained national and international stature. In July of 1993, the two departments merged into the  Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences. The Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences has since become one of the largest, most productive, and best respected academic programs at Virginia Tech.