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TSUAg's Young Wins Mentoring Award
Professor, administrator named McKinley Mays Mentoring Award winner at 21st ARD Symposium | By Charlie Morrison
TSUAg Professor and Associate Dean of Academics and Land-grant Programs Dr. De’Etra Young was awarded the inaugural McKinley Mayes Mentoring Award at the Association of 1890 Research Directors (ARD) Biennial Research Symposium, held April 6 through 9 at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville.
In keeping with the theme of the symposium’s focus on students, event creators the 1890 Foundation introduced the McKinley Mayes Mentoring Award this year, making Dr. Young the award’s inaugural recipient. The award was created to recognize an administrator who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to mentoring both students and early faculty members, making the multitalented Young an ideal inaugural recipient.
“For me working closely with some of the brilliant, young, scientific minds we have throughout our student and faculty bodies here at the College is what brings me professional joy,” said Dr. Young. “And fostering growth in these students and faculty members gives me the satisfaction that we’re fulfilling our core mission here at TSUAg, to educate the next generation of agricultural leaders in how to succeed at both student life and their professional lives following school. I love what I do.”
For TSUAg Dean Dr. Chandra Reddy, Dr. Young’s true impact is as the connection between the College’s administration and its most important group of stakeholders, its students.
“We are proud of Dr. Young for so many things, including her research and scholarly accomplishments, her outstanding grantsmanship, her leadership in my administration, and of course for her role as a teacher,” said Dr. Reddy. “It is Dr. Young’s steadfast commitment to mentoring both students and young faculty members however, that perhaps best defines her success here at the College of Agriculture. Her compassion, her connection to our students, her mentoring and leadership abilities deliver real value to our campus.”
The McKinley Mays Mentoring Award is just the latest in a long line of awards and distinctions Dr. Young has received including the 2017 TSUAg Outstanding Teaching Faculty Award, the 2018 National Adviser of the Year award from the national student organization Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and the prestigious USDA Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences Award for which she was honored in 2024.
