UT gardens director elected president of Conifer Group  

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The director of the University of Tennessee Gardens, Dr. Sue Hamilton, has been elected president of the American Conifer Society Southeast Region. The American Conifer Society (ACS) supports the development, conservation, and propagation of conifers, with an emphasis on those that are dwarf or unusual, on standardization of nomenclature and education of the public. 

Hamilton will serve a two-year term.

In her role at the UT Gardens, Hamilton has led the expansion of the Gardens’ conifer collection from approximately 70 specimens in 2005 to 401 specimens in 2011 and she oversaw the effort that earned the Gardens recognition as an ACS Reference Garden in 2008. In 2010 she organized a Conifer Symposium hosted by the UT Gardens and supported by a grant from the ACS SE Region.    

An associate professor of horticulture in the Department of Plant Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Hamilton teaches horticulture and provides leadership to the students participating in the public horticulture program. Hamilton is also known in various media circles as the co-host of the talk-radio show “Garden Talk” and as co-author of the reference book The Best Garden Plants for Tennessee.

See http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/ and http://westtennessee.tennessee.edu/ornamentals/ for details.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Department of Animal and Food Sciences annually recognizes someone who has made outstanding contributions to the department and to Kentucky animal agriculture with induction into its Hall of Fame.

This year, the department awarded the honor to Dr. Pearse Lyons, the founder and president of Alltech, a global animal health company headquartered in Nicholasville and with a presence in 128 countries.

Lyons, who founded the company in 1980, is widely-recognized as an entrepreneur and innovative industry leader. His nominator said Lyons is a strong supporter of the UK Department of Animal and Food Sciences, and that through his efforts, the Alltech/UK Nutrition Research Alliance and the Alltech/UK Center for Nutrigenomics were created. 

Additionally, more than 55 PhD students at the University of Kentucky have been supported by Alltech. Induction into the Hall of Fame represents the highest honor that the Department of Animal and Food Sciences can bestow.