2016 Legacy Inductee
Roland Brooks
1935 - 2013
Roland Brooks was born in Pendergrass on February 10, 1935. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1951. Brooks attended North Georgia College, then graduated from the University of Georgia in 1955. His radio career began at WBHF in Carterville. In 1960 he became the radio editor for the UGA Cooperative Extension Service and held that position until 1990. The voice of Roland Brooks was known across the state of Georgia and the Southeast for his early morning 5AM farm and garden reports that aired on WSB radio, as well as other stations across the state of Georgia, as part of his job with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. He took part in over 10, 500 broadcasts spanning a 30-year Award winning career through the 60's, 70's, and 80's until his retirement in 1990. Over two thousand Georgia 4-H Club members had the pleasure of being interviewed by him over the years, many from the Rock Eagle 4-H Center. He was the first co-recipient of the D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Extension in 1983. He received numerous ACE awards throughout his career for Communication Excellence including the ACE Award of Excellence in 1982 and the ACE Professional Award in 1987. He received five Associated Press Awards for Outstanding Broadcast Journalism, 36 National and International Awards from Agricultural Communicators in Education, and was named Assistant Professor Emeritus of Agriculture in 1991. After retirement, he stayed connected to UGA by volunteering with Alumni groups, being an avid follower and supporter of all UGA athletic programs, and volunteered at UGA Health Services for 13 years, in addition to being an active member of First Baptist Church in Athens. Brooks died in 2013.
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