CHICAGO--Twelve outstanding food scientists will be honored with Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Achievement Awards for food science and technology at IFT's 1998 Annual Meeting and Food Expo in June.
Casimir C. Akoh, Ph.D., associate professor, Dept. of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia (Athens), will receive the Samuel Cate Prescott Award for his research on fat replacers, lipid biotechnology, and fat metabolism. This award is given to an IFT member who is less than 36 years of age or received his or her highest degree within the previous ten years and has demonstrated outstanding ability in food science research.
The Carl R. Fellers Award honors a member of IFT and Phi Tau Sigma (a food science honorary society) who has enhanced the profession of food science through leadership, service, and communication skills. Roy G. Arnold, Ph.D., meets this criteria as Provost and Executive Vice President of Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis since 1991, former Dean of OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences, Past-President of IFT (1994-95), and former Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Charles J. Bates, Ph.D., retired vice president of American Maize Products Co. (Crown Point, Ind.), will be presented the Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award for demonstrating meritorious and imaginative service to IFT as Past-President (1985-86), Past-Treasurer (1988-91), and leader of various committees and sections since 1951, when he joined IFT as a professional member.
A highly regarded Professor of Food Engineering, Richard W. Hartel, Ph.D., will be honored with the William V. Cruess Award for excellence in teaching food science and technology. He is a faculty member in the Dept. of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Todd R. Klaenhammer, Ph.D., a William Neal Reynolds Professor at North Carolina State University (Raleigh), will be lauded with the Research and Development Award for contributing to the understanding of food microbiology through his research on dairy fermentations and lactic acid bacteria. He has designed novel genetic strategies to protect cheese starter cultures from attack by bacterial viruses. He holds appointments in the Depts. of Food Science and Microbiology, and serves as Director of the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center.
Theodore P. Labuza, Ph.D., professor, Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, will receive the Marcel Loncin Research Prize for his work on the texture of snack foods as well as the Nicholas Appert Award for advancing the field of food science through his research on water activity and food stability and on shelf life testing and prediction.
The Stephen S. Chang Award for lipid or flavor science will be presented to Robert C. Lindsay, Ph.D., professor, Dept. of Food Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for his research on dairy, seafood, and vegetable flavors. He identified and delineated pathways for the formation of specific compounds responsible for flavors and off-flavors in these foods.
The Babcock-Hart Award honors an IFT member for improving public health through nutrition research. Haile Mehansho, Ph.D., Miami Valley Laboratories, Procter & Gamble Co. (Cinncinati), will receive this award for developing ways to address micronutrient deficiencies through fortification technology. He patented highly bioavailable calcium and iron fortification formulas, the latter of which was applied to a commercial chocolate milk product in Mexico. He also developed a way to fortify commercially sold margarine with vitamin A in the Phillippines.
National Starch and Chemical Co. (Bridgewater, N.J.), will receive the Industrial Achievement Award for developing NOVATION® Functional Native Starches, products that represent an advanced application of food science. Unlike traditional native starches, NOVATION® starches do not compromise the flavor or texture of foods to which they are added, such as salad dressings, soups, and yogurt fillings. In fact, the starches may allow food flavors to be released more readily in many foods. The products are based on patented and proprietary technology.
This year's International Award will go to Herbert Ockerman, Ph.D., professor at The Ohio State University (Columbus), for promoting better international understanding of food science and the transfer of technology. He has taught hundreds of international students, lectured all over the world, and contributed to more than 60 books, some of which have been translated into several languages.
Ruth M. Patrick, Ph.D., LDN, C.N.S., state extension nutrition and food safety specialist at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (Baton Rouge) and chief of the Nutrition Education Program at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, will receive the Elizabeth Fleming Stier Award for unselfish dedication and pursuit of humanitarian ideals that contributed to the well-being of the food industry, academia, students, and public at large. As an educator, philanthropist, and media spokeswoman, she has reached hundreds of thousands of people with key nutrition and food safety health messages.
Norman S. Singer, president of Ideas Workshop Inc. (Highland Park, Ill.), will be lauded with the Industrial Scientist Award for making major technical contributions to the advancement of the food industry through fat replacer innovations. He developed some of the first commercial low-fat products and received 17 U.S. patents for his work, including the first all-natural fat replacer Simplesse and the product Eggcellent, the first low-fat, low-cholesterol egg yolk that tastes like the "real McCoy."
The achievement award winners will be recognized at the Opening Event of IFT's Annual Meeting and Food Expo on Sat., June 20 at 8 PM in the Ballroom of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Founded in 1939, IFT is a non-profit scientific society with 28,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues.