It is with profound sadness that World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA) officers were informed, on Thursday 12th May 2022, of the sudden passing away of WVPA former President and Senior Vice President, our dear friend Nigel Horrox.
Nigel graduated from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in 1976 and, after initial years in general veterinary practices, he devoted his entire career to the poultry industry as a consultant in the UK and worldwide. Nigel was a restless international traveler, strongly committed to developing the poultry industry and training poultry professionals internationally. He was a tireless worker, despite his poor health, and strongly promoted pragmatic approaches to develop international cooperation between poultry scientists and the industry worldwide. His professional activity as managing director of Positive Action Publications reflected his skills to compile, analyse and disseminate relevant technical and scientific knowledge in all fields of poultry, and more widely Animal production and transformation.
Nigel served the British Veterinary Poultry Association (BVPA) for many years and was their President from 2005 to 2007. He joined the WVPA executive in 2009 as Editor of Aerosols, then was elected in 2011 as Vice-President and in 2015 as President. From 2011 to 2014, working in close collaboration with Prof Trevor J. Bagust (Australia), then President of the WVPA, he strongly engaged himself in developing the WVPA in the Asian pacific and African regions, and in strengthening relationships between academic researchers and the veterinary and poultry industry. Nigel’s organizational skills were apparent to the numerous speakers who participated in his technical conferences over many years at venues across the world. It was not uncommon to find two or more such meetings taking place concurrently on widely varied topics and sometimes even involving different Animal species. Nigel could be seen moving seamlessly from one auditorium to the next, sometimes acting as host, sometimes chairing sessions, but always overseeing the success of the event.
Under Nigel, the number of WVPA national branches and members worldwide steadily increased, with 11 new branches established since 2011, and the self-set goal of reaching more than 2000 WVPA members distributed across 50 national branches worldwide nearing completion. In a similar effort to increase global WVPA representation, Nigel initiated the WVPA Asia meeting (the fifth edition of which will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in October 2022). The success of the Asian meeting prompted Nigel to propose and set the basis for the organization of a similar event for Africa. Unfortunately, Nigel was not able to attend the first edition in Marrakech, Morocco, in June 2022.
Last but not least, Nigel was a tireless promoter of partnerships between academic poultry researchers and the industry. He was decisive in creating several industry-funded scientific prizes to recognize the contribution of poultry scientists worldwide (see WVPA website, http://www.wvpa.net/awards.php). These awards are now regularly presented at the WVPA congress in addition to the Bart Rispens Research Award, the WVPA main scientific prize. The notable interest of the poultry veterinary industry in WVPA activities is reflected by the number of participants attending the WVPA congress every 2 years, with more than 2000 participants being reached thanks to Nigel’s support and insightful advice to local organizers.
We gratefully acknowledge Nigel’s contribution to the development of the WVPA worldwide and shall remember and miss Nigel’s friendship, energy and dedication to our association.
In the name of all WVPA members, branch secretaries and officers, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to Nigel’s family and dear ones.