Chancellor Sharp Talks Barbecue With Pitmaster Aaron Franklin

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M University plays a unique role in the world of barbecue. To discuss it, Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp recently visited legendary pitmaster Aaron Franklin at his restaurant in Austin.

Six mornings every week, a long line famously forms outside Franklin Barbecue, where people are happy to wait for hours just to try the perfectly cooked brisket with its mouth-watering bark. Franklin has also served countless celebrities, including U.S. presidents.

Franklin and Chancellor Sharp were joined by Dr. Jeff Savell, a Texas A&M distinguished professor of animal science. Savell runs the university’s barbeque camps, such as Camp Brisket or Barbecue Summer Camp, where Franklin regularly serves as an instructor and teaches barbecue enthusiasts the secrets of choosing, preparing and smoking the finest barbecue anywhere in the world.

Over brisket and ribs, Franklin told Chancellor Sharp and Dr. Savell that the Animal Science Department at Texas A&M “pretty much wrote the book” when it comes to barbecue.

See a video of Chancellor Sharp’s visit to Franklin Barbecue here: https://chancellor.tamus.edu/videos/

“If you know anything about barbecue, you know that the No. 1 place on the planet to learn about smoking meat is Texas A&M University,” Chancellor Sharp said. “Anyone serious about learning the art of brisket truly needs to attend one of A&M’s barbeque camps to learn from Aaron Franklin and the talented team assembled by Dr. Jeff Savell.”

Franklin, who grew up near Texas A&M University, added that he always enjoys teaching at Camp Brisket and sharing the knowledge he has developed.

“Any time when you get a lot of people around who are doing the same thing – or have the same passion – just to hear the conversations, you can just see the lightbulbs going off over everybody’s head,” Franklin said. “I think that is pretty spectacular.”

For more information on the camps, please visit: https://bbq.tamu.edu/<

About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $4.55 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities and seven state agencies, the Texas A&M System educates more than 152,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $972 million in FY 2016 and helped drive the state’s economy.

Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu