Alltech presented its first Humanitarian Award on Monday to Irish tenor Ronan Tynan and probably landed another voice for the University of Kentucky opera program.

Alltech founder and president Pearse Lyons honored Tynan, who lives in Boston, for overcoming a double leg amputation and going on to win Paralympic gold medals and become an orthopedic surgeon and world-class singer.

"UK has decided to take him on, and he'll be a visiting professor," Lyons said Monday.

Tynan said he's the son of an Irish dairyman, so he knows well the importance of agriculture and increasing production to feed a growing planet.

"Farming is the mainstay of the world," Tynan said. "As my father used to say, 'Sing to the girls, and they'll be happy.'"