During the final editing of the 2011 Sustainability Report, our dear
friend and colleague Dr. Drew Giesen passed away, Thursday
July 12, 2012 at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas,
after a six-year battle with melanoma. He was such an important
part of Novus, Executive Leadership asked for the inclusion of
his memorial in the 2011 report.
As an organization, Novus was very lucky to have Drew as an
important contributor since day one. Drew's influences on Novus
and the global animal science industry have been prolific; while
some of Drew's most visible accomplishments were related to the
poultry industry, he was viewed as a multi-species thought leader
among animal scientists around the world.
During his career at Novus, Drew excelled with challenging
assignments in research, product development, technical
service and sales and marketing. He worked globally and as a
true innovator to solve health and nutrition challenges across a
diverse range of markets. Throughout his work and career, the
common thread was that Drew held the respect of our customers
and partners as a world-class scientist of the highest integrity.
Drew was a teacher and a collaborator at heart, and this is clearly
represented in the areas where he chose to give back to our
industry through service. Drew had been an active member of the
Poultry Science Association since 1977, which he joined when he
was a graduate student at Auburn University. Through the years
he served on numerous committees, the Board of Directors and
was named President for 2006-2007. In 2010 Drew was award the prestigious Fellows of the Poultry Science Association.
Drew also generously committed his time to serve as both Associate Editor of Poultry Science and The Journal of Applied
Poultry Research. Drew was also past President of the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) and served on the
Board of Directors since 2007. Other professional service contributions included terms as Director and Vice President of the
World's Poultry Science Association and President of the Southern Poultry Science Society. Drew was also a member of
ARPAS–ACAN, Sigma Xi-Scientific Research Society and the Academy of Science of St Louis.
All of his accomplishments aside, Drew was a uniquely sincere person who truly cared about people. His kind and fun-loving
spirit will be greatly missed. Most importantly, Drew was the loving husband of Linda and the very proud father of Joe and Carrie.