Dr. Frank Flanders from Tifton has been selected as the 2020 Outstanding Educator Award recipient by the ABAC Alumni Association at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.  This award is normally presented at the Alumni Awards Luncheon at Homecoming in April, but the luncheon was postponed due to the pandemic. The event will be rescheduled, possibly during the fall term. 

The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes alumni involved in the education field, ranging from elementary school to college.  Open to both active and retired educators, the Alumni Association began presentation of the award in 1995. 

A 1972 ABAC graduate, Flanders went on to receive bachelor’s, master’s, and a Specialist in Education degree from the University of Georgia (UGA) with a focus on Agriculture and Agricultural Education. He earned his Doctor of Education degree in Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education from UGA in 1988.

Teaching runs deep for Flanders, and he currently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Agricultural Education Department at ABAC.  Integral in the establishment of the ABAC program, Flanders spent many years as an Ag Ed teacher in Georgia public schools, followed by three decades of teaching at UGA as an instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor of Agricultural Education.

Flanders has received more than 25 professional awards, including the National Mentor Award at the National Association of Agriculture Teachers in 2019 and the CAES Academic Advisor Award at UGA in 2014. He was inducted as a member of the Georgia FFA Ag Education Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Honorary American FFA Degree in 1987. 

Flanders has published 11 academic books, articles, and manuals. He serves his community by providing leadership to local and state FFA organizations, coordinating student events for the Georgia National Fair and others, and supporting the Georgia Assessment of Certified Educators. He has provided multiple scholarships to ABAC students.