William D. Wampler honored by College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

William D. Wampler, of Harrisonburg, retired president of WLR Foods, a poultry production and processing company, received two honors from Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

A classroom at the Alphin-Stuart Livestock Arena was named the Wampler classroom in honor of Wampler and his wife, Bonnie Lou Wampler. He also was named to the College’s Hall of Fame.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hall of Fame honors those individuals who have given outstanding service to the College. The Hall of Fame award will be presented at the College Scholarship Banquet on Friday, Oct. 22.

"William Wampler has always kept Virginia Tech and the College as an integral part of his long and exciting career. Agriculture and Virginia Tech are rooted in his personal background, leadership experience, and service," said Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "He started as a student at Virginia Tech learning from the faculty members and has continued to give back to the university and college throughout his life to ensure that others benefited from what he had learned. Students, the college, and university have benefited significantly from his contributions as a student, agricultural leader, and benefactor."

Wampler studied poultry science at Virginia Tech and received a bachelor's degree in 1950. Following graduation, his first contributions to the university included making Wampler farms and facilities available as sites for field testing and applied research for Virginia Tech faculty.

Most recently, he supported the construction of the new Alphin-Stuart Livestock Teaching Arena and played a key role in initiating the building program.

The Wampler Scholarship is named in his honor, and he and his brother Charles donated money to name the Wampler Conference Room in Litton Reaves Hall to honor their father Charles Wampler Sr.

William has received numerous awards and honors presented by the Virginia Poultry Federation and the National Turkey Federation, said Mark A. McCann, head of the College’s department of animal and poultry sciences who nominated Wampler for the Hall of Fame honor.

"His involvement in the poultry and turkey industry has literally covered his lifetime starting with his 4-H activities with poultry. His leadership roles started when he was a youngster in 4-H and was elected president of the Virginia 4-H Congress Cabinet and continued through serving as president of the National Turkey Federation, the Virginia Angus Association, the Virginia Poultry Federation, and the Virginia Beef Cattle Improvement Association. He is a board member of the Baltimore Bank of Cooperatives and past chair of the Capital Campaign for Bridgewater College. He continues on the board of Bridgewater College," said McCann.

Consistently ranked by the National Science Foundation among the top 10 institutions in agricultural research, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading agricultural scientists. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives students a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. The college is a national leader in incorporating technology, biotechnology, computer applications, and other recent scientific advances into its teaching program.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.