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.”
Nutifafa Adotey, assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil 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. Elizabeth Croy, a senior veterinary nurse in the College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences; Sandy Kitts, an accounting specialist with the Department of Plant Sciences; and Jun Lin, a professor in the Department of Animal Science, also received this award.
Adotey has been with UITA for 4 years and has been previously recognized for his continued dedication to service. In addition to teaching, Adotey developed the website for the UT Soil, Plant and Pest Center. The site provides real life solutions regarding soil fertility, forage quality, and plant and pest identification and control to growers, fertilizer and chemical companies, consultants, retailers, Extension agents, and members of the general public.
“I am very grateful and honored to receive this award,” Adotey says while sharing praise for his family, colleagues, students and the Moss family for making this possible.
Adotey received his B.S. in soil science from the University of Ghana, his M.S. in agriculture from Stephen F. Austin State University, and his Ph.D. in soil science from Louisiana 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.