Published on 04/02/19

UGA faculty and staff recognized for excellence in public service

By Leah Moss

Eight University of Georgia faculty and staff were honored for exemplary service to the state during Monday’s 2019 Public Service and Outreach awards luncheon, which included awards for Entrepreneur of the Year and Donor Impact.

UGA’s highest award in Public Service and Outreach went to Stanley Culpepper, a professor and extension agronomist in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who received the 2019 Walter Barnard Hill Fellow Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach. The Hill Fellow is comparable to a distinguished professorship.

Additionally, five faculty members will receive Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach. They are:

Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Terry College of Business
Amanda Burgess Marable, extension 4-H specialist and senior public service associate, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
David Meyers, public service associate at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, a UGA Public Service and Outreach unit;
William G. Tyson, county extension coordinator in Bulloch County, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Theresa Wright, director of assessment and evaluation for the Vice President of Public Service and Outreach and unit manager for the Survey Research and Evaluation Initiative at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, a UGA Public Service and Outreach unit.

The Hill Award and Hill Fellow Award are named for Chancellor Walter Barnard Hill, who led the University of Georgia from 1899 to 1905. Hill was a pioneer who helped define the university’s modern public service and outreach mission.

The Public Service and Outreach Staff Award for Excellence went to Genell Gibson, administrative assistant at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, a UGA Public Service and Outreach unit. This is the most prestigious award for staff members and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a strong work ethic, commitment to service and exceptional job performance.

Alexander Scherr, associate professor and director of the Veterans Legal Clinic at the School of Law, received the Engaged Scholar Award, recognizing a tenured associate or full professor who has made significant career-spanning contributions to UGA Public Service and Outreach

The Entrepreneur of the Year Award, recognizing a company that has exhibited significant growth in business, benefitted from a variety of formal learning opportunities through the UGA Small Business Development Center and served as a public advocate of business ownership, went to Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. This award was sponsored by Cadence Bank.

The Callaway Foundation Inc., won the Donor Impact Award in recognition of its longtime support of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, including a $1 million award in October to help fund a new visitor entrance. Since 1973, the Callaway Foundation has given more than $5.8 million to the State Botanical Garden for capital improvements that have enhanced visitors’ experiences. Paul S. “Tripp” Penn III, president of the Callaway Foundation Inc. and the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation boards, accepted the award.

Authors:

Leah Moss

Experts/Sources:

Stanley Culpepper

Mandy B. Marable

William G. Tyson

Stanley Culpepper, a professor and extension agronomist in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the 2019 Walter Barnard Hill Fellow Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach.

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