Graham, Other AECT Faculty and Students Win Agricultural Education Awards

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Agricultural education professor Donna L. Graham has been named the Outstanding Agricultural Educator by the Southern Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Several students and faculty members from the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences were recognized for outstanding achievements at the American Association for Agricultural Education meeting in Mobile, Alabama, including professor Donna L. Graham, who earned the top education award.

Graham, professor of agricultural education in the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology, was presented the Outstanding Agricultural Educator Award by the Southern Region of the AAAE.

The award goes to a member for excellence in agricultural education through involvement and experience that advances the profession, excellence in teaching, significant research and scholarly writing in the field, leadership and exemplary service to agricultural education.

Graham and professors Leslie Edgar, who is also Bumpers College's assistant dean for student programs, and Don Edgar received the Distinguished Research Poster Presentation Award for their study "Student and Faculty Perceptions of Academic Entitlement: A Look at One Southern Land-Grant University."

In addition, graduate students Hailey Gates and Olivia Morris placed first and second, respectively, in the Outstanding Research Poster competition.

Gates, a master's degree student in agricultural and extension education, won first place with her study on the influence of attire, age and gender on teachers' first impressions of other agriculture teachers. Working with assistant professor Kate Shoulders as her adviser, she conducted research to be used for future studies on what high school agriculture teachers should wear when teaching.

Morris, a master's degree student in agricultural communications, was second with her study "Portion Size Communication by Means of Package Design." The package design research was conducted by Tami Strickland, a recent AECT graduate student now working at Tyson Foods Inc. The study evaluated consumer perception of package design concepts developed by Tyson Foods. Agricultural communications professor Jeff Miller advised both students.

The AAAE meeting was held in conjunction with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists meeting.   

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.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.