UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2025
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 luncheon. This year’s ceremony was held in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on the UTIA campus in Knoxville on July 30, 2025. 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.”
Clint Cummings, an Extension specialist in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, is the recipient of the UTIA Professional/Academic Award for Outstanding Service. Provided by the Institute of Agriculture administration, this award is given to a recipient among the professional and other academic employees who has contributed most to the attainment of the objectives of the Institute of Agriculture.
Cummings is the project director for Skill Up Tennessee in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Skill Up is UT Extension’s SNAP Employment and Training program focused on helping Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants gain the knowledge and skills needed for employment. Cummings is also the networking and professional development lead and Southern Region Network coordinator for the AgriProspects Workforce Development Network through the Extension Foundation. Cummings was an Extension agent in Monroe and Knox counties before moving to the state office.
“It’s humbling to be nominated for this award by my colleagues,” Cummings says. “I’m honored to get to do the work in the first place, and I’m grateful to be recognized in this way.”
Cummings holds a B.S. degree in family and consumer sciences and an M.S. in educational psychology, both from UT 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.