John was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1954. He grew up in southern Georgia and received his B.S. degree in biology from Valdosta State College in 1976. He earned his veterinary degree at The University of Georgia in 1980.  He completed the Master of Avian Medicine degree in 1983 and Ph.D. degree in Medical Microbiology under the direction of Dr. Stanley Kleven in 1985 at The University of Georgia.

 

John spent his entire professional academic career at the University of Georgia. He retired in 2011 as Professor, Chair of the Department of Population Health, and Director of the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. His research work focused on avian mycoplasmas, bacterial diseases, and Newcastle disease. With colleagues, he developed commercially successful vaccines for fowl cholera and Newcastle disease. John devoted much of his time to instruction of students, particularly in the Master of Avian Medicine degree program. During his career, he mentored 21 Ph.D. students, 10 MS students, and 40 Master of Avian Medicine students. Also, he worked closely with the US poultry industry on disease diagnostic and control issues. His work has taken him to all parts of the world, where he has contributed to the development of poultry disease control programs.

 

John served on the Editorial Board of Avian Diseases for 10 years and the Journal of Applied Poultry Science as associate editor for 5 years.  He was an associate editor for Isolation and Identification of Avian Pathogens for 18 years and Diseases of Poultry for 17 years. He served as a member of the board of directors, scientific program chair, and president of AAAP.
 
Since retiring from the University of Georgia, John has served as Vice President of Research for the US Poultry & Egg Association in Tucker, Georgia. In that capacity he manages the association’s competitive research grants programs.

 

John has been married to Kathryn Masters Glisson since 1977. They have four children (Carly, Katie, Jessica, and John) and five grandchildren. John is an enthusiastic gentleman farmer and amateur plant breeder and spends much of his spare time breeding grapes on his small farm in Oconee County, Georgia.