UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2025
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The accomplishments of the faculty and staff of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture were celebrated at an annual awards luncheon held on the UT Knoxville campus in the new Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on July 30. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the institute.
UTIA Senior Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President Keith Carver hosted the luncheon and praised the honorees for their work. “The enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated by our UTIA faculty and staff is unparalleled,” he said. “I am always in awe of their dedication to providing real life solutions to the people of Tennessee. These well-deserved awards represent impacts and accomplishments that benefit Tennesseans and society now and for years to come.”
Dr. Bryce Burton, a clinical veterinarian with the College of Veterinary Medicine Office of Lab Animal Care, is one of four recipients of the J.E. Moss Achievement Award. Established in memory of J.E. and Ann Moss, this award recognizes excellent achievement in teaching, research, and Extension for UTIA. Awards are provided each year for each of the four units of the institute. They are selected by a committee including the UTIA senior vice president and senior vice chancellor and the deans of the institute’s four units: the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT AgResearch and UT Extension. John Buchanan, professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science; Walt Hitch, director of the UT Plateau AgResearch and Education Center in Crossville; and Sreedhar Upendram, associate professor and UT Extension specialist with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, also received this award.
Burton has been with UITA for seven years and is proud to uphold the highest standards for animal care for research and teaching protocols at UT Knoxville.
Of the recognition, Burton says, “I am incredibly humbled and delighted to be recognized amongst these other highly qualified individuals and leaders. I am thankful for my team mates who make what I do enjoyable and successful. I would not be where I am today without the support of my incredible family and husband, and I look forward to all the new adventures that still await me here at UT.”
A graduate of North Carolina A&T State University with a bachelor of science in laboratory animal medicine, Burton earned the doctorate of veterinary medicine (DVM) in 2013 from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and completed her laboratory animal residency at Vanderbilt University in 2015. After her residency, she practiced as a general practitioner in Savannah, Georgia, until moving to Knoxville in late 2017.
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.