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.”
Denita Hadziabdic Guerry, associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and Fulbright Scholar to Ghana, received the UT AgResearch Mid-Career Faculty Research Excellence Award. This award recognizes demonstrated commitment and meritorious achievements in research by faculty during the mid-stage of their academic career, and the honor emphasizes the impact of their research on UT AgResearch stakeholders and the science community at large, especially during the last five years.
Hadziabdic Guerry, who came to UTIA in 2010 as a postdoctoral fellow, studies fungal plant pathogens, population biology and forest health. Her research focuses on diseases such as Thousand Cankers Disease and Oak Wilt as well as the conservation of native trees and biodiversity in North American forests. Last year, she received the UT Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture Faculty Global Excellence Award. She has conducted research in Belize, Cambodia, Ethiopia and Ghana, and she accompanied first-year Herbert College of Agriculture students to Costa Rica in January.
In addition to research, she is committed to teaching and helping guide future scientists. Hadziabdic Guerry won the EURēCA Faculty Mentor Award from the UT Knoxville Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships and the Southern IPM Center Pulling Together Award.
“I am deeply honored to receive the UTIA AgResearch Mid-Career Faculty Research Excellence Award. This recognition reflects the incredible collaborations I have been privileged to lead or contribute to across UTIA, the U.S. and globally—efforts focused on advancing plant health, biodiversity and food security. It reinforces my commitment to driving science forward, delivering real-world solutions as part of a land-grant institution and mentoring the next generation of science ambassadors,” she said.
Hadziabdic Guerry earned her bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Tennessee Tech University and her master’s degree in plant pathology and Ph.D. in plants, soils and insects at 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.