Brooks Pennington Jr.

Brooks M. Pennington Junior (October 21 1925-May 23 1996) was a successful businessman and an accomplished gentleman of Georgia. He contributed many things to society and education, including the addition of the Brooks Pennington Jr. Military Leadership Center [ [http://www.ngcsu.edu/Univ_Rel/Digests/palmer.htm Pennington Military Leadership Center Dedication, November 11 2004] ] at North Georgia College & State University (NGCSU) in November 2004.

Biography

He attended North Georgia College in 1943-1944, before serving as a USAF captain in the Korean War, and later graduated from University of Georgia with a degree in engineering and agronomy.

Career

Whilst still at college, Brooks Pennington began working in the family retail feed and seed store founded in 1945 on Main Street, Madison by his father, Brooks Pennington Sr. In a career lasting roughly 50 years, Brooks Jr. built a warehouse and developed the wholesale side of the business and also developed new agricultural crop varieties, seed coatings and seed treatments. By the time he retired though ill health in the mid 1990s as President and Chairman of Pennington Seed Inc. [http://www.penningtonseed.com/section/about.asp Pennington Seed Inc. website] ] , the annual turn-over had grown to over $200 million [http://www.morgancountycitizen.com/?q=node/4678 Morgan County Citizen, Interview with Brooks "Sonny" Pennington III] ] . Pennington was also a past president of the Georgia Seedsmen's Association, the Southern Seedsmen's Association, and the Southern Field Seed Council [http://wwwtom%20graves.legis.state.ga.us/legis/1997_98/leg/fulltext/sr245.htm Georgia House of Representatives SR245, February 27 1997] ] . His book "Seeds and Planting in the South" [cite book |last=Pennington |first=Brooks |title=Seeds and Planting in the South |publisher=McFarland Press |location=Harrisburg, PA |year=1985 |edition=2nd ed. |id=NAL/USDA 8831443
isbn= |accessdate=2008-01-31 ] is regarded as a standard text-book for many agricultural colleges. In September 2003, Pennington was honored in the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame [http://interests.caes.uga.edu/aghalloffame/pennington.htm Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame] ] [http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/getstory.cfm?storyid=1947 Georgia Faces, September 11 2003] ] .

Pennington served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and was elected to the Georgia State Senate, serving for eight years as Chairman of the Georgia Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, as well as holding positions on a number of other committees. He was also State Campaign Chairman for President Jimmy Carter's first campaign for governor of Georgia in 1966 (unsuccessful), and later an agricultural campaign advisor during Carter's 1976 presidential campaign. Pennington donated his political pay to the Brooks Pennington Sr. Scholarship Fund (named after his father), which by September 2003, had enabled over 30 students to attend college.

His many other accolades include serving as Chairman of Morgan County Hospital Authority, Vice Chairman of Morgan County Foundation, President of the Morgan County Touchdown Club and the Commander of the Madison County VFW, among several others. He was recognised by the NGCSU Alumni Association in the Hall of Fame (1973) [ [http://www.ngcsu.edu/advancement/alumni/association/assoc_awards_recognition/awards_recognition.htm#fame NGCSU Hall of Fame] ] and as Distinguished Alumnus (1974) [ [http://www.ngcsu.edu/advancement/alumni/association/assoc_awards_recognition/awards_recognition.htm#dist_alumnus NGCSU Distinguished Alumnus] ] .

Marriage and children

He married Jacquelyn Christian Pennington, with whom he had four children. In October 2006, his son, Brooks "Sonny" Pennington III, resigned after 10 years as president and CEO of Pennington Seed (now part of Central Garden & Pet, Walnut Creek, California) to take on the role of Director of Special Projects. Another son, Dan Pennington, is in charge of the manufacturing strategic business unit.

References