Biosystems Engineer Receives the McCormick Case Gold Medal from ASABE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An agricultural engineer with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has received one of three Gold Medal awards for 2025 from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Robert T. Burns, a distinguished professor in the UT Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, was honored at the ASABE Annual Meeting on July 16.
Burns received the Cyrus Hall McCormick – Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal, which recognizes exceptional and meritorious engineering achievement in agriculture that has resulted in new concepts, products, processes or methods that advanced the development of agriculture. His current academic efforts include coordinating the UT Precision Livestock Farming Team and working with the application of technology to collect and analyze data to better monitor and manage animal production systems. In addition, he has more than 30 years of experience in the quantification and management of gaseous emissions (GHG, volatile organic compounds, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide) and particulate matter (TSP, PM10 and PM2.5) from animal production and manure management systems. He is also an expert on manure and nutrient management systems, including the anaerobic digestion of animal manures to produce renewable energy.
Burns is humbled by the honor and says, “Being selected as the 2025 ASABE Cyrus Hall McCormick – Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal recipient is especially meaningful to me because this recognition of my work comes from my agricultural engineering peers who are active in the field.”
An ASABE Fellow, Burns has also received that society’s acclaimed Henry Giese Structures and Environment Award in 2021. He has also served as the Chair of the National Pork Producers Council Air Science Advisory Committee and is the recipient of the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award.
Burns has served as a board member for the International Research Center for Animal Environment and Welfare and as chair of the Pork Air Science Policy Advisory Committee. He is currently serving a fifth term as a member of the USDA – Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (AAQTF). Among his accomplishments nationally and internationally, Burns served as principal investigator for a Tyson Broiler Air Emissions project that collected data used by the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study; contributed to the National Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning TSP certification program used by USDA for a decade; and is a contributing author to a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Technical Advisory Group on methane.
Prior to being named as a UTIA distinguished professor, Burns served the UTIA administration as assistant dean, associate dean and dean of UT Extension. A registered professional engineer, Burns holds a B.S. in agricultural engineering, M.S. in environmental engineering, and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.