Faculty and Staff Awards

AgResearch Dean’s Awards Information Packet

AgResearch Dean’s Professor

To recognize faculty members at the rank of Professor who have achieved and sustained a track record of outstanding productivity and impact in their research program, with national and global prominence. The successful candidate will receive $40,000/year funding support from AgResearch for a period of three years along with a plaque. The recipients will retain the AgResearch Dean’s Professor title for the duration of service to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The funds may be used to support the faculty’s research program, such as research supplies, travel to present research findings at professional meetings, GRA or postdoc support; however, it cannot be used to support faculty salary. Faculty with titled professorship, i.e., Endowed, Distinguished, Institute, or Chancellor’s Professor, will not be considered for this award.

Previous Award Winners

2026: Tarek Hewezi

2025: Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes

2024: Qixin Zhong

T.J. Whatley Distinguished Young Scientist Award

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.

Previous Award Winners

Mid-Career Faculty Research Excellence Award

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.

Previous Award Winners

2026: Phillip Myer

2025: Denita Hadziabdic Guerry

2024: Scott Lenaghan

2023: Sindhu Jagadamma

2022: Chris Boyer

2021: Neelam Poudyal

2020: Jennifer DeBruyn

J.E. Moss Achievement Award (UT AgResearch)

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.

Previous Award Winners

Research & Development Impact Award

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.

Previous Award Winners

AgResearch Impact Award

This award is presented to an AgResearch faculty or professional staff member whose efforts have had a profound effect on improving the efficiency, sustainability, and/or economic viability of the food and fiber industry of rural areas of Tennessee.

Previous Award Winners

2026: T. Edward Yu

Outstanding Professional Staff Award

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

Previous Award Winners

2026: Heba Abdelgaffar and Sarah Parker Armstrong

2025: Jessica McCord and Kendhl Seabright

2024: Philipus Pangloli and Rebecca Payton

2023: Wesley Wright

2022: Kathy Dalton, Jason Williams, and Mark Young

2021: Susan Schexnayder

2020: Kimberly Campbell

Outstanding Support Staff Award

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

Previous Award Winners

2026: David McIntosh

2025: Wes Gilliam

2024: Alyssa Merka

2023: Sandra Marine

2022: Cassie Halvorsen

2021: Bill Lively

2020: Barbara Gillespie

AgResearch and Education Center Directors Award

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.

Previous Award Winners

AgResearch Dean’s Grantmanship Award

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 to 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.

Previous Award Winners:

2026: Amy Fulcher, Hao Gan and Le Chen

2025: Patrick Keyser, Scott Lenaghan and Debasish Saha 

2024: Sindhu Jagadamma, Alicia Rihn and Toni Wang 

2023: Scott Lenaghan, Neelam Poudyal and Yang Zhao

Walter “Mac” Pate Endowed Fellow in Livestock Genetics

2025: Troy Rowan

AgResearch Guthrie Endowed Professor in Precision Livestock Farming

2025: Yang Zhao

Powell Family Endowed Chair in Genomics

2026: Troy Rowan