image: Hongwei Xin, a biosystems engineer who serves as Dean of UT AgResearch, is the recipient of the 2022 Kishida International Award by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The award recognizes outstanding contributions to food and fiber production, improved living and education of people outside the United States. Photo courtesy UTIA. view more
Credit: Photo courtesy UTIA
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture’s dean of AgResearch, Hongwei Xin, has been awarded the Kishida International Award by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The award recognizes outstanding contributions to food and fiber production, improved living and education of people outside the United States.
Xin received the award at the ASABE 2022 Annual International Meeting held in Houston, Texas, in July.
An ASABE Fellow since 2008, Xin has earned an international reputation for research and academic leadership. His work has had major impacts on U.S. and global animal agriculture and has produced significant contributions to scientific literature and engineering practices related to animal production systems. Throughout his prolific career, Xin has published more than 600 refereed journal articles, book chapters, conference proceeding papers or technical papers.
At the UT Institute of Agriculture, Xin is responsible for the research programs of approximately 140 agricultural and natural resource scientists that study disciplines spanning eight academic departments. He also oversees the management of ten research and education centers that conduct field research, demonstrations and education programs in strategic locations across Tennessee.
Carrie Castille, senior vice chancellor and senior vice president of the UT Institute of Agriculture congratulates Xin and says the recognition is well deserved. “Dean Xin has a lifetime of achievements that demonstrate his dedication to providing solutions to agricultural challenges at home and abroad,” she said.
Among his many honors and awards, Xin was selected for the Outstanding Achievements in Research Award and the ISU David R. Boylan Eminent Faculty Research Award while on the faculty of Iowa State University. Xin is also a recipient of the ASABE’s Cyrus Hall McCormick Jerome Increase Case Gold Medal, the Henry Giese Structures and Environment Award and the Lalit and Aruna Verma Award for Excellence in Global Engagement.
In 2018, his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, inducted him into the Biological Systems Engineering Hall of Fame.
“I am very honored to receive this award,” says Xin. “I am also fortunate to have worked with so many agricultural professionals and researchers who help provide the food and fiber needed to improve living conditions globally.”
ASABE is an educational and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food and biological systems. The Kishida Award, presented annually at ASABE’s international meeting, is named after Yoshikuni Kishida, founder of the company, Shin-Norinsha Co., Ltd. Of Japan, which publishes the magazine Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America and other publications. The magazine highlights papers that focus on the development of agriculture in developing countries.
Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu.