Plant pathology’s Tzanetakis earns faculty award from U of A students
By Robby Edwards, Director of Communications
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
University of Arkansas
Fast facts
- Ioannis Tzanetakis receives Outstanding Faculty Member Award for 2019-2020
- Nominees, winners chosen by students
- Tzanetakis has dual appointments for research and teaching
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ioannis Tzanetakis, University of Arkansas professor of plant pathology, is one of 12 recipients of Outstanding Faculty Member Awards for 2019-20.
Tzanetakis has a dual appointment in the department of entomology and plant pathology — for research in the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the U of A System Division of Agriculture, and for teaching in the U of A’s Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
Tzanetakis was nominated by Ava Wait, a master’s degree student and research graduate assistant in plant pathology.
The awards were presented by the Associated Student Government and the Graduate Professional Student Congress.
Both graduate and undergraduate students nominated faculty members from around campus to be considered for the award. The Graduate Professional Student Congress reviewed all applications from graduate students while the ASG reviewed all applications from undergraduate students.
“I am lucky to mentor an exquisite group of virology scholars, which makes my job so much easier,” Tzanetakis said. “It is a great honor to even be nominated and I am dedicated to assisting students with their career goals and aspirations.”
Students wrote open responses about their professors and those applications were judged by student panels selected by both the Associated Student Government and the Graduate Professional Student Congress.
Tzanetakis focuses his research on virology, plant virus epidemiology and virus-vector interactions, and molecular biology and epidemiology of emaraviruses.
“Dr. Tzanetakis takes a keen interest in both the scientific training and professional growth of all his students,” said Ken Korth, interim head of the department. “He exemplifies what mentorship of graduate students should be. It does not surprise me that he was nominated by one of his own students because they recognize his efforts to support them. He is very deserving of this award.”
Tzanetakis earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in soil science and agricultural chemistry from the Agricultural University of Athens, and his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Oregon State University.
He received the Lee M. Hutchins Award from the American Phytopathological Society in 2015, was presented with the Safeguarding Award from the United States Department of Agriculture in 2013 as a member of the Farm Bill Management Team, and the American Phytopathological Society named him as a Face of the Future in Plant Virology in 2010.
To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uark.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and Instagram at ArkAgResearch.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.
Media Contact: Fred Miller
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 575-5647
fmiller@uark.edu
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