Conference Room Named for Bill Weir

The William C. Weir Conference Room was dedicated in Meyer Hall on April 27,1995 in honor of the many contributions made by Professor Weir to his students, the department, college and campus.

Dr. Weir grew up on a sheep ranch in Lake County, Oregon. He joined the faculty of the Department of Animal Husbandry at UC Davis in 1948 after obtaining a B.S. degree in Animal Husbandry and Range Science at Oregon State University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Nutrition at the University of Wisconsin.

Bill was regarded as an outstanding teacher and advisor, and his research accomplishments in the area of sheep nutrition are well-known in the sheep industry and scientific community. He played a key role in the acquisition of the UC Hopland Field Station in 1951, where much of his research on sheep was subsequently conducted.

Professor Weir served as the Dean of Students at UCD from 1958 to 1965, a period of rapid growth of the student body. From 1970 to 1972, he was Chief-of-Party for the University of California-University of Chile Cooperative Program in Santiago. In 1973, he accepted the Chairmanship of the Department of Nutrition, a position he held until 1981. He then returned to his long-term interest in international activities by serving as Associate Director of the USAID-funded Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program from 1981 to 1987. From 1985 until his retirement in 1990, he was Associate Dean for International Programs for the Davis campus.

Professor Weir's many honors include the California Wool Growers Association Golden Fleece Award (1973) and Recognition of Distinguished Service from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UCD (1980).