UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2024
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture celebrated the accomplishments of some of its top faculty, staff, researchers and Extension experts at UTIA’s annual awards and promotions luncheon. This year’s ceremony was held in the newly-opened Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on the UTIA campus in Knoxville on August 14, 2024. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the Institute.
UT Institute of Agriculture Senior Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President Keith Carver hosted the award winners and praised them for their work. “I continue to be amazed by the dedication, enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated by the impressive work of our UTIA faculty and staff,” says Carver. “The awards are well deserved, and the impacts of these accomplishments are seen across the state and will benefit Tennesseans for generations.”
Whitney Anderson, human resources consultant with UT AgResearch and the Herbert College of Agriculture, is the recipient of the UT Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture Outstanding Staff Global Engagement Award. The award recognizes individual staff members for their outstanding engagement in support of globalizing the university’s missions of teaching, research, and/or extension. This award honors the contributions of individuals who make international programming more accessible to faculty, staff, and students and/or who raise the visibility of international programming across the Institute.
A dedicated employee of UTIA since 2013, Anderson provides leadership in all areas of human resources for both UT AgResearch and the Herbert College of Agriculture, including employee relations, recruitment, benefits and retirement, workers compensation and more.Prior to joining the Institute, she spent over 20 years in the private sector working for internet technology, public relations, software development and integrated security companies.
“It is an honor to be recognized for the work I love to do,” says Anderson. “Tom Gill and his team in the Smith Center have a passion for global agriculture and exemplify the land-grant mission. I am blessed to work alongside and support such talented and amazing people.”
Anderson received her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Carson-Newman University in 1993, and holds certifications from the Society for Human Resources Management and the Human Resources Certification Institute.
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.