Petek Settar, Ph.D., managing director of research and development at Hy-Line International, was honored with the 2026 Poultry Science Association (PSA) Distinguished Poultry Industry Career Award, sponsored by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY). The award recognizes outstanding contributions by an industry leader. In addition to sponsoring the award, USPOULTRY also makes an annual contribution to the PSA Foundation on behalf of the recipient.

“USPOULTRY is delighted to honor industry leaders embodied by Dr. Settar. She has devoted numerous years of her career to finding solutions for poultry and egg industry issues, including enhancing genomic selection and animal welfare. We believe Dr. Settar’s work has contributed significantly to improving the industry,” said Nath Morris, president of USPOULTRY.

Dr. Settar earned her bachelor’s degree in animal science (1992) and her master’s degree in statistical models (1995) within the Department of Animal Science at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. She also earned her Ph.D. in poultry breeding (1995-1998) from the same department, where she served as a research assistant from 1990-2002. She completed postdoctoral research appointments at the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) Volcani Center in Israel (1997-1998) and the Department of Animal Breeding at Iowa State University (2000-2002).

From 2002 to 2024, Dr. Settar worked at Hy-Line International as an applied geneticist. In 2007, she received her Dale Carnegie Training accreditation. She currently serves as managing director of the research and development department at Hy-Line.

Dr. Settar has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, symposium abstracts and two book chapters. She is a frequent presenter at national and international scientific meetings and industry symposia. Dr. Settar has an extensive history of leadership and service in the poultry industry, including roles as a World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) USA board member and a PSA Foundation member since 2016, as well as a United Egg Producers Environmental Scientific Panel committee member since 2005.

She served two terms as president of the Poultry Breeders of America (2013–14; 2016–17) and was the Poultry Breeders Roundtable Scientific Program chair in 2017. Additionally, she has contributed to PSA as a Hy-Line International Young Scientist Award committee member since 2006, organizer of the 2016 Light Applications Symposium, and chair of the genetics section at the 2017 annual meeting. Her expertise is further reflected through ongoing contributions as a scientific reviewer for Poultry Science and Animal Science journals.

Dr. Settar has received numerous prestigious international scholarships and travel awards throughout her academic career, including the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP) 50th Young Scientist Scholarship in Switzerland (1999), the EAAP-GIFT Workshop Travel Award in France (1999) and the EAAP Postgraduate Course on Animal Breeding Strategies Travel Award in Poland (1998). In Israel, she was awarded the Israeli ARO Researcher Program Scholarship (1997), the International QTL Course Travel Award (1997) and the Turkish Young Scientist Scholarship from Hebrew University (1995). Additionally, she received the WPSA Youth Program Travel Award in India in 1996.