UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture recognized some of its top faculty, staff, researchers and Extension experts at UTIA’s annual awards and promotions luncheon on the UTIA campus in Knoxville July 30, 2021. The event was conducted in person, a welcome return to normalcy after having an online ceremony because of the pandemic last year. The awards honor the extraordinary performance of UTIA employees during a difficult year of online education and changes to procedures because of the pandemic. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the Institute.
UTIA Senior Vice President Tim Cross hosted the award winners and praised them for their work. “After a challenging and stressful year, it’s a pleasure to recognize excellence as exemplified by these award-winning members of the UTIA faculty and staff,” Cross says. “Their continuing dedication to our land-grant mission of serving Tennessee ensures that we develop and deliver real life solutions to improve health, grow the economy and enhance our environment.”
Billy Williams, with the UTIA Office of Information Technology Services, is the winner of the Mildred Pendergrass Award for Outstanding Service. This honor is presented in memory of the wife of former Vice President for Agriculture Webster Pendergrass and recognizes UTIA employees among the technical, skill and service staff of the Institute.
“I am extremely humbled and honored to receive the Mildred Pendergrass Award for Outstanding Service for 2021,” Williams says. “I have been lucky to be part of the Institute of Agriculture for 18 years and look forward to many more. I will do my best to continue to live up to deserving this award and will forever be grateful to those who made it possible.”
Williams is an IT analyst with the Office of Information Technology Services, involved in tech support, email administration and web application development. He was a leader in the theme creation and migration for WordPress, and web development for UTIA’s Soil, Plant and Pest Center in Nashville. Williams was also involved in the development of the Rwanda Flock app, where farmers in Rwanda could track chick flock information – helping these producers grow and resell their product. He is also involved in the creation of a web application to merge multiple UT Extension master producer programs into one system.
Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu.