Faculty and Staff Awards

AgResearch Dean’s Awards Information

Award Description:
The award will be presented to a senior faculty member who has, in general, a minimum of fifteen years of service as a member of the agricultural faculty of The University of Tennessee. Exceptions for the 15-year service requirement may be granted for extraordinary faculty who have served at previous instruction(s) and continue to demonstrate exemplary research excellence at UT. The faculty member must hold the rank of Professor and have an AgResearch appointment. This award recognizes meritorious achievement in establishing a nationally/internationally recognized research program within their discipline. Emphasis will be on the impact that a faculty member’s efforts in research and technology development have had on UT AgResearch stakeholders and/or the scientific community at-large. Both tenure and non-tenure track faculty are eligible for the award. (More Info)

Don Tyler

Al Womac

Fred Allen

Neal Schrick

Kelly Tiller

Vince Pantalone

Scott Schlarbaum

Bob Hayes

John Wilkerson

Stephen Oliver

Darrell Mundy

Award Description:
The award will be presented to a mid-career faculty member who has between seven and fifteen years of faculty experience, with a minimum of five years of service as a member of the agricultural faculty of The University of Tennessee. In addition, the faculty member must hold the rank of at least Associate Professor and have an AgResearch appointment. This award recognizes demonstrated commitment and meritorious achievement in research by faculty during the mid-stage of their academic career. Emphasis will be on the impact that a faculty member’s efforts in research and technology development have had on UT AgResearch stakeholders or the science community at large. Emphasis will be placed on his/her accomplishments during the past five calendar years for consideration of this award. Both tenure and non-tenure track faculty are eligible for the award. (More Info)

Scott Lenaghan (Food Science)

Award Description:
The award will be presented to an early-career faculty member who has been in faculty position for no more than seven years, with a minimum of two years of service as a member of the agricultural faculty of The University of Tennessee. In addition, the faculty member must hold the rank of Assistant Professor (or within one year of promotion) and have an AgResearch appointment. This award recognizes demonstrated commitment and meritorious achievement in establishing an independent and impactful research program during the early stage of their academic career. Emphasis will be on the impact that a faculty member’s efforts in research and technology development have had on UT AgResearch stakeholders and/or the scientific community at large. Only his/her accomplishments within the past five years will be considered as a basis for this award. Both tenure and non-tenure track faculty are eligible for the award. (More Info)

Kellie Walters (Plant Sciences)

Federico Harte

Dean Kopsell

Christopher Clark

Bill Klingeman

Lana Zivanovic

Lannett Edwards

Vince Pantalone

Siqun Wang

Daniel Yoder

Raj Raman

Neal Schrick

David Golden

Alan Mathew

Al Womac

Kimberly Jensen

John Wilkerson

Kimberly Gwinn

Jerome Grant

Stephen Oliver

Award Description:
The J.E. Moss Award is presented in memory of J.E. and Ann Moss. It recognizes excellent achievement in research for the Institute of Agriculture. Awards are selected by the deans of AgResearch in consultation with the UTIA senior vice president and senior vice chancellor. These individuals demonstrate research excellence and collegiality in their field of research.

David Stone

Lee Ellis

Dean Kopsell

Lana Zivanovic

Juan Jurat-Fuentes

Niki Labbè

Award Description:
The UT AgResearch Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Staff honors and acknowledges excellence of employees in fulfilling their job responsibilities. The Awards will be presented in two categories, the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Support Staff, and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Professional Staff. In both cases, the awards recognize employees who demonstrate (Note: To determine if a nominee is classified as “Professional Staff” or “Support Staff’ please see the staff and faculty page for the department of interest typically located under the About Us menu.):

  • Competence and critical thinking
  • Cooperativeness and team building
  • Professionalism and ethical behavior
  • Initiative, adaptability, and dependability
  • Clear communication skills

(More Info)

Philipus Pangloli (Food Science)

Rebecca Payton (Animal Science)

Award Description:
The UT AgResearch Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Staff honors and acknowledges excellence of employees in fulfilling their job responsibilities. The Awards will be presented in two categories, the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Support Staff, and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Professional Staff. In both cases, the awards recognize employees who demonstrate (Note: To determine if a nominee is classified as “Professional Staff” or “Support Staff’ please see the staff and faculty page for the department of interest typically located under the About Us menu.):

  • Competence and critical thinking
  • Cooperativeness and team building
  • Professionalism and ethical behavior
  • Initiative, adaptability, and dependability
  • Clear communication skills

(More Info)

Alyssa Merka (School of Natural Resources/OneHealth)

Award Description:
This award is presented to professional and technical staff members for their outstanding service accomplishments in support of the AgResearch and Education Centers’ mission. Criteria for selecting professional staff members include leadership, initiative, and professionalism. Criteria for selecting technical and support staff members include reliability, initiative, and productivity.

Terry Ferrell
Steve Gibson
Cyndi Petty
James Morrow
Jamie Evans

Judy Grimes
Bill Lively
Samuel Norment
Patrick Ray

Stephen Smith
Matthew Ross
Dale Gregg
Chad Hicks
Vasilj Bobrek

Patricia Brawley
Ernest Merriweather
Perry Pratt

Bobby Terry
Ann Moore

Brad Fisher
Donald Spivey

Bennie Nuchols
Scott Helgren

Janet Gibson
Jeffrey Dowlen
Jason Reeves

Gordon Percell
Jeffrey Helgren
Derick Hopkins

David Johnson
Richard Hensley
Roy Biggs
Generette Brooks
Tracy Bush
Johnny Glenn

Markus Campbell
James Johnson
Hugh Moorehead
Roger Long
Phillip Lunn
James Warren

Samuel Simmons
Charles Rankin
Robert Ellis

Mitchell Hatchett
William Morrison
Craig Miller

James McClure
Lanny Davis
Christopher Adcock
Jason Williams
William Pitt

PURPOSE

The AgResearch Dean’s Grantsmanship Award recognizes the extraordinary effort of our faculty members in successfully securing competitive extramural grants and contracts. All tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty with AgResearch appointments are eligible for this award.

THE AWARD

Three awards, each recognizing effort and success in grantsmanship among an Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor will be given annually. This award will include an award plaque, a $1,500 cash gift, and recognition at the UTIA Awards and Promotion Luncheon held annually in late summer. Previous recipients are not eligible for the award for the next 3 years.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Selection for this award is based on the total dollar amount of competitive extramural grants/contracts secured by the faculty member serving as principal or co-principal investigator (PI or Co-PI) during the fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). Only faculty members with an annual evaluation of “exceeds expectations” that have demonstrated good departmental/institutional citizenship will be eligible. The secured extramural grants/contracts must be in response to a standard Request for Application (RFA) from nationally or regionally recognized funding agencies/organizations and the grant/contract must be applied and/or managed through UTIA (subcontracts awarded to UTIA will be counted towards the totals). If multiple faculty members participate on a grant/contract, the dollar amount supporting the faculty member’s research, teaching, and/or extension/outreach activities will be used t calculate the cumulative total dollar amount. Congressional support (earmarks), gifts, and state support in the form of special grants or line items will not be counted in the total dollar amount.

SELECTION PROCESS

The grant/contract award information will be obtained from UTIA’s Office of Sponsored Programs. The sources and nature of funding will be reviewed and verified by the department heads to exclude congressional earmarks, line items, and special grants. Once the grants/contracts are verified, the AgResearch Dean’s office will make the award winner selections. The selection criteria and process for the newly initiated award, July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, may change in future years depending on the experience gained and feedback received from the faculty members.

Sindhu Jagadamma (Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science)

Alicia Rihn (Agricultural & Resource Economics)

Toni Wang (Food Science)