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.”
Troy Rowan, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science and Extension beef genetics specialist, was named the Walter “Mac” Pate Endowed Fellow in Livestock Genetics, awarded by UT AgResearch and the UT College of Veterinary Medicine. Pate was an outstanding dairy producer in Blount County who used genetic selection and advanced reproductive techniques to have one of the top dairies in rolling herd milk production for several years in Tennessee. The award acknowledges outstanding young faculty members who perform genetics research aimed at improving livestock production systems.
Rowan’s research focuses on improving beef cattle efficiency through genetic selection. He came to UTIA in 2021 and has worked with his lab to collect high-dimensional information from sensors and genomics platforms to develop indicator phenotypes for hard-to-measure traits like forage-based feed efficiency, health status, fertility and greenhouse gas emissions. Rowan said one of the highlights of his career so far is helping UTIA host the Beef Improvement Federation’s annual symposium in 2024 in Knoxville. More than 500 people from the U.S. and 12 countries attended the three-day event.
Rowan grew up on a purebred Charolais operation in Iowa and has been passionate about beef cattle production from a young age. “I have been interested in beef cattle and genetics for my whole life. Getting to wake up and work on behalf of the beef industry every day is a dream come true,” Rowan said.
Rowan earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Creighton University and his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Missouri. In addition to his research program, Rowan serves as the state’s beef cattle genetics Extension specialist where he supports the Tennessee Master Beef Producer Program and other national organizations, including the Beef Improvement Federation and the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.
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.