UTIA Faculty Receive Recognition for Outstanding Service

From their devotion to public gardening programs and beef-cattle production education to the development of production systems, UTIA faculty garnered national recognition for their outstanding contributions. Among them, Susan Hamilton (Knoxville ’80, ’95), now retired director of the UT Gardens and associate professor of plant sciences, received the Award of Merit from the American Public Gardens Association.

David Kirkpatrick (Knoxville ’71), retired professor of animal science, was honored by the Beef Improvement Federation for a career of service to the industry, and Al Womac (Knoxville ’81, ’83 and ’88), professor of biosystems engineering, was named a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

For her statewide service, Karen Armsey, the director of the Institute’s Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee (HABIT) outreach program in the College of Veterinary Medicine, was honored with the 2020 UT President’s ‘Connect’ Award.

 

Still Here, Still Serving

Did you bring an animal to the UT Veterinary Hospital for emergency service this summer? Attend a UTIA virtual field day? View some of the hundreds of hours of educational videos or attend “Zoominars” and online learning experiences developed to continue the institute’s land-grant mission? Thousands did, including the more than 500 who preregistered for the first Virtual Milan No-Till Field Day. Many of the educational opportunities are still available online. Search utia.tennessee.edu for more information.

If you need further affirmation that UTIA is still working to provide Real. Life. Solutions.—or if you just need some additional confirmation that the coronavirus can’t keep us down—check out the series of YouTube videos UTIA produced to lift the spirits of employees and clients. Online at the UTIA YouTube Channel, the three videos feature employees from across the state reiterating the uplifting message, “We’re Here for You.”

 

4-H Poised for Next Era

Justin Crowe
Justin Crowe

With the coronavirus preventing physical camps and 4-H Congress, Tennessee’s 4-H’ers were served some disappointments in 2020, but 4-H leaders and agents across the state worked hard to provide quality distance programming. None worked harder than Justin Crowe, who was recently appointed the new director and statewide program leader for Tennessee 4-H. Crowe is a familiar face to the program, having served with 4-H in Davidson County, engaging urban youth in hands-on learning experiences for five years. For the past 12 years, however, Crowe has served in the statewide 4-H Youth Development Office, receiving more than $5.2 million in funding to support Tennessee 4-H youth programs over the course of his career.

As the new leader of the statewide program, Crowe is positioned to launch a new era of service to the state’s youth. The 4-H club enrollment in Tennessee is the largest in the country, with more than 168,000 participants and a 4-H program in every county. “Learning by doing” through hands-on activities and community involvement empowers 4-H’ers to develop and strengthen life skills. To learn more about 4-H Youth Development in Tennessee, visit 4h.tennessee.edu.