Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series
Don L. Waters
Presents
“A Native Son’s Vision for Southeast Georgia”
Don L. Waters
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Performing Arts Center, Statesboro Campus
Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions will host the Norman Fries Distinguished Lecture Series with keynote speaker Don L. Waters on Oct. 30, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture, titled “A Native Son’s Vision for Southeast Georgia,” will be held at the Statesboro Campus Performing Arts Center.
Waters is the CEO of Waters Capital Partners, LLC, and the former chairman, president and CEO of Brasseler USA, Inc., a global leader in dental and medical instrumentation. He has been a prominent figure in Georgia’s business and health care sectors, serving on the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia, including a term as chairman. Waters is also a member of the Chatham County Hospital Authority and the Augusta University Health System boards.
Recognized for his contributions to business and public service, Waters has received several accolades, including induction into the Savannah Business Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah Branch of the NAACP and the Distinguished Service Scroll Award from the University of Georgia School of Law, his alma mater.
Waters will share his insights on the development and future opportunities for Southeast Georgia, making this event a must-attend for those invested in the region’s progress. The event is free and open to the public.
Zoom meeting passcode: 329034
The lecture is being held via Zoom.
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History
The annual Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series is sponsored by an endowment established to honor Mr. Fries, the founder of Claxton Poultry and former senior statesman of the poultry industry in Georgia. He passed away in December 2001.
Mr. Fries built his business from scratch—one truck, one cooler and one employee—into one of the nation’s largest poultry production plants with 1,600 employees, more than 300 family farm suppliers and an international market. Throughout his 50-plus years in the poultry business, one constant marked Mr. Fries’ career: a solid commitment to remaining an independent poultry producer. He served as past president and director of the Georgia Poultry Federation and director of the National Broiler Council and the Georgia Improvement Lab. He was also a life member of the Georgia Poultry Federation Poultry Leaders Roundtable.
As a boy growing up in Savannah, Mr. Fries ran bicycle deliveries of fresh chicken from his father’s City Market store to homes downtown. After serving in the Navy in World War II and earning a college degree, Mr. Fries returned to Savannah to start his own business. Mr. Fries recognized that retail poultry was changing from his father’s freshly dressed, home-delivered birds to store-bought, prepackaged, fresh poultry. In 1959, he opened Claxton Poultry, which today is one of the largest fully -integrated poultry plants in America.