David William Brooks (September 11, 1901 – August 5, 1999) was an American farmer and businessman. Born in

Royston, Georgia Royston is a city in Franklin, Hart, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,649 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Royston has been in operation since 1878. The community was named after W.A. Royston ...

, Brooks enrolled at the age of 16 at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

(UGA) and graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Agriculture (1922) and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Agriculture (1924). While working on his Masters, Brooks also taught

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

at UGA as an instructor. He started his first farm cooperative, Georgia Cotton Growers Cooperative Association, in

921 __NOTOC__ Year 921 ( CMXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March – Battle of Pegae: Bulgarian forces under ''kavhan'' (first ...

while still at UGA. When this initial cooperative failed in 1933, Brooks started a new one under the name Georgia Cotton Producers Association. The name was changed to Cotton Producers Association (CPA) the following year and was eventually renamed

Gold Kist Gold Kist was a large chicken producing company in the southern United States. It was founded in 1933 by D.W. Brooks, a University of Georgia agronomy instructor as the Cotton Producers Association, a cooperative to help farmers in Carrollton, G ...

in 1974. Brooks retired as Chairman of the Board of Gold Kist and was awarded the title of Chairman

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. Brooks also founded several insurance companies that served the farming communities, Cotton Farmers Mutual Insurance Association (1941) and Cotton States Life and Health (1955) On the UGA campus, a faculty award in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, a road and pedestrian mall are named in honor of Brooks.

References

D.W. Brooks Collection at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and StudiesNew Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Gold Kist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, D.W. 1901 births 1999 deaths American cooperative organizers University of Georgia alumni People from Royston, Georgia 20th-century American businesspeople