TIFTON — Joshua Dawson of Valdosta has been selected as the 2020 Miles A. Drummond Rising Star Award recipient by the ABAC Alumni Association at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. 

The award is normally presented at the alumni awards luncheon at homecoming each April but was postponed due to the pandemic, college officials said in a statement. The event will be rescheduled, possibly during the fall term.

The Miles A. Drummond Rising Star Award is presented annually to ABAC alumni 29 years of age or younger who have distinguished themselves through professional achievement, community service and service to the college. This is the third year for the award, which is dedicated to the memory of Miles A. Drummond, a former ABAC Alumni Association board member, who passed away in 2018.

A 2013 ABAC graduate, Dawson received an associate of science degree and a bachelor of science in diversified agriculture degree from ABAC. He also earned a master of plant protection management degree from the University of Georgia.

Dawson currently serves as the agriculture and natural resources agent for Lowndes County through Fort Valley State University Extension. 

“In this position, he supports the agriculture industry in his community by providing information and resources to farmers and by introducing youth to agriculture through a variety of programs and activities, including 4-H,” college officials said.

Dawson worked “tirelessly to help establish agriculture classes in Valdosta City Schools for the first time in school history,” they said. “He invests in his community by serving as a UGA Extension volunteer coordinator for the master gardener program, as a volunteer with the Southside Community Garden, and as a volunteer for the young adult ministry at his church.”

A recipient of the FVSU Extension Community Service Award in 2016, Dawson is a supporter of ABAC and was featured in an alumni spotlight during the 2017 Sunbelt Ag Expo.