Cliff RickettsDr. Cliff Ricketts rose through the ranks of agricultural education and achieved every degree offered by the Future Farmers of America (FFA), including the Greenhand, Chapter, State, and American, as well as the Honorary Chapter, Honorary State, and onorary American (received the same year by former President George W. Bush and Lee Iacocca). As a high school agricultural education instructor, Dr. Ricketts received the National Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association's National Award, and his students won several state FFA contests and earned runner-up status in public speaking and national extemporaneous speaking. Dr. Ricketts received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Tennessee and earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in agricultural education, career-technical education, and teacher education. While teaching at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), he received both the MTSU Foundation's Outstanding Public Service Award and its Outstanding Teacher Award twice. He was also a finalist for its Outstanding Research Award and Career Achievement Award and was one of only two faculty members to receive the Presidents’ Silver Column Award. Dr. Ricketts is still involved in production agriculture with a beef cattle operation on his family farm outside Nashville. Read More Read Less