UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2024
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 and promotions luncheon. This year’s ceremony was held in the newly-opened Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on the UTIA campus in Knoxville on August 14, 2024. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the Institute.
UT Institute of Agriculture Senior Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President Keith Carver hosted the award winners and praised them for their work. “I continue to be amazed by the dedication, enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated by the impressive work of our UTIA faculty and staff,” says Carver. “The awards are well deserved, and the impacts of these accomplishments are seen across the state and will benefit Tennesseans for generations.”
Jun Lin, a professor in the Department of Animal Science, 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 the Institute of Agriculture. Awards are provided each year for each of the four units of the Institute of Agriculture. 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. Nutifafa Adotey, an assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science; Elizabeth Croy, a senior veterinary nurse in the College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences; and Sandy Kitts, an accounting specialist with the Department of Plant Sciences, also received this award.
Lin has been with UTIA for 20 years, 10 of which have been in his current role. He has also been recognized for his dedication to research and service with the UT Provost 2021 Award for Success in Multidisciplinary Research and the 2016 Research Award of Merit from Gamma Sigma Delta. He is also the 2009 recipient of the Buford E. Ellington Distinguished Faculty Award for members with fewer than 10 years of service from the UT Department of Animal Science.
“This is an honor for all of my current and previous lab members. As a die-hard Volunteer fan, I feel so fortunate for being associated with and surrounded by the distinguished group of scientists at UT for the past 20 years,” says Lin.
Lin received his B.S. in microbiology and his M.S. in molecular microbiology and immunology from Fudan University. He earned a Ph.D. in animal science from The Ohio State University.
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.