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.”
Patrick Keyser, professor in the School of Natural Resources and director of the Center for Native Grasslands, received the UT AgResearch Dean’s Grantsmanship Award. This award recognizes the extraordinary effort of faculty members in successfully securing competitive extramural grants and contracts and who exceed expectations of good departmental/institutional citizenship. The award is based on the total dollar amount of competitive extramural grants/contracts secured by the faculty member serving as principal or co-principal investigator. Other winners of this year’s award are Scott Lenaghan, associate professor of food science, and Debasish Saha, assistant professor of biosystems engineering and soil science.
“Being able to work as a steward of our natural resources—our grasslands, farms and forests—and to serve the farmers and landowners who care for these lands is a great privilege. Successful farms, healthy grasslands and thriving wildlife are common goals for all of us here in Tennessee and beyond,” Keyser said. “After all, mankind’s first job was ‘caring for the Garden’ and that responsibility—along with feeding some eight billion people while we do that—is no less important today. Securing these grants has made the research possible that can guide this stewardship now and for future generations.”
Keyser has secured more than $42 million in grants over the past 19 years working at UTIA. His research focuses on the restoration and management of native grass-based production systems, integrating cool season annuals with native warm season grasses to extend grazing seasons and the use of native forbs and legumes in pastures to improve wildlife habitat and soil health.
As director of a center, he works with researchers and scientists in many different departments, disciplines and institutions. “It has been a privilege working with nearly 90 scientists from a dozen or more disciplines and 30 or more institutions or organizations during my time at UT. In addition, I have been able to mentor more than 40 graduate students and seven post-docs. All of these have made critical contributions to teams that have I have been a part of,” he said.
Keyser earned his bachelor’s degree in forestry from Virginia Tech, his master’s degree in wildlife from Louisiana State University and his Ph.D. in forestry from Clemson 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.