Did you ever wonder how Jull Hall got its name? As you’re talking turkey this Thanksgiving you may thank Dr. Morley A. Jull one of the world’s most influential poultry scientists and Jull Hall’s name sake.
Constructed in 1953, Jull Hall originally housed incubators, coolers and poultry science labs. Chicken houses sat behind Jull Hall in what is now parking lot Q. It became home to the Institute of Applied Agriculture in 1989.
Born August 26, 1885 on a Canadian farm near Burford, Ontario, Dr. Jull developed an interest in poultry science at a young age. According to a story in his hometown newspaper, “feeling ill and allowed to stay home from church one Sunday at the age of six, he began to feel better and explored the barnyard where he found a dead hen. He went into the house for a knife to determine the cause of death.”
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1908 from the University of Toronto, he worked as the poultry assistant at the West Virginia Experiment Station in Morgantown; then, he became the Poultry Commissioner in the British Columbia Department of Agriculture in Victoria, and in 1912 he settled at McGill University in Toronto where became Head of the Poultry Department and earned Master’s Degree in 1914, all the while teaching poultry classes at McGill and across the border in Vermont. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in genetics in 1921.
In 1923 Dr. Jull moved to Maryland to become the Senior Poultry Husbandman with the
United States Department of Agriculture in Beltsville. His work focused on quality improvement of poultry, egg, and meat production. He worked on developing a turkey breed known as the Beltsville White, the smaller “family friendly” turkey we are familiar with today. In 1936 Dr. Jull came to the University of Maryland as head of the Poultry Science Department. He conducted research on raising fast-feathering birds which would be easier to fatten and therefore less costly. He was named the National Poultry Science Teacher of the year in 1952. Dr. Jull travelled extensively domestically and abroad lecturing and completing many projects for the US Government and the World Congress of Poultry. He authored several articles and books; the 1951 book Poultry Husbandry and a special collection of his work are archived as The Morley Jull Papers in Hornbake Library.
Dr. Jull retired in 1956 but continued to consult and travel internationally. He died on October 25, 1959 at Prince George’s County Hospital and is buried in Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Bladensburg. So as IAA alumni and staff enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey we should remember Dr. Jull and his contributions to poultry science.
