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.”
Daniel J. Mathew, an assistant professor in the UT Department of Animal Science, is the recipient of the E.R. “Prof” Lidvall Outstanding Teaching Award. This award was established by Donald E. Williams, a 1961 graduate of the Herbert College of Agriculture, and honors his former professor and mentor, professor E.R. Lidvall. The award recognizes faculty who exemplify Lidvall’s commitment to excellence in the classroom and his commitment to the needs and interests of the student.
Mathew began teaching animal anatomy and physiology in 2019 with an enrollment of approximately 90 undergraduate students in the spring and fall semesters, and he serves as a mentor for undergraduate students pursuing experience in teaching or research. He is also working to establish the Facilitated Early Entry Program for Animal Science Students (FEEPASS) at UT, an international veterinary medicine program for animal science students hosted by the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Mathew’s research program at the institute focuses on improving large animal fertility. Specifically, his research aims to improve health of in vitro-produced embryos and identify causes of early embryonic mortality and pregnancy failure. He currently serves as a mentor for two Ph.D. students, has graduated five M.S. students and served on 16 graduate student program committees. In 2026, he will also assume chair of a USDA multistate research project on factors affecting pregnancy success in beef and dairy cattle.
“It is such an honor to be considered for the ‘Prof’ Lidvall Outstanding Teaching Award. Dr. Lidvall embodied a passion for teaching so much so that his student, Donald Williams, established the award in his honor. I feel fortunate to be a part of that and to have the opportunity to help students reach their goals and spark their excitement for learning as Dr. Lidvall did. I thoroughly enjoy sharing knowledge about the natural world with my students and it is rewarding to see their excitement and curiosity. I think the students also enjoy the hands-on opportunities and applicable examples that we provide during labs and lectures. I know those are the types of opportunities that I enjoyed as a student and remember the most, even today,” Mathew says.
Other research and teaching honors Mathew has received include a 2024 Society for the Study of Reproduction Rising Star in Reproductive Biology recognition, the 2024 American Society of Animal Sciences Southern Section Outstanding Early Career American Scientist Award for Education, the 2022 Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award, and the 2022 W.F. and Golda Moss Outstanding Teaching Award for faculty with fewer than 10 years at the institute.
Mathew earned a B.S. degree in animal science from UT and holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in animal science with a focus in reproductive physiology from the University of Missouri.
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.