Newswise — CHICAGO— The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is proud to announce the 2014 achievement award recipients. IFT recognizes the many accomplishments that individuals and organizations have made to advance food science and the food industry. The IFT Achievement Awards recognize team members or an individual for remarkable contributions in research, applications, and service in the food science and technology industry. Each recipient will be recognized at the 2014 (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans on Saturday, June 21.

Trailblazer Award and Lectureship

Johanna T. Dwyer, D.Sc., R.D., Professor of Medicine and Senior Nutrition Scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center and Senior Nutrition Scientist (contractor), Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, has received the 2014 Trailblazer Award and Lectureship for her exceptional nutrition knowledge, respect for other cultures, and understanding of food issues.

Dwyer received her D.Sc. and M.Sc. from Harvard School of Public Health and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin. She is the author and coauthor of over 270 research articles and 300 review articles. Dwyer serves as the editor of Nutrition Today and co-editor of the Handbook of Nutrition and Food. She served on the 2000 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee and is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine National Academy Sciences.

W.K. Kellogg International Food Security Award and Lectureship

Olive Yao Li, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, has received the 2014 W.K. Kellogg International Food Security Award and Lectureship for her research work on microencapsulation-based delivery systems that resulted in technology that can serve as a template for effective delivery of micronutrients in sizes comparable with the chosen food vehicles.

With more than twenty years’ experience of research, teaching, and industrial services across the USA, Canada, and China, Li has a good overview of the field of food science and technology, and particularly strong expertise in novel ingredient delivery technologies for applications in fortified and functional foods. This international, multidisciplinary background enables her to continue making contributions through current teaching and research, and to stay active in various professional activities, ranging from scientific program assessments, manuscript reviews, to industrial consultation. Li’s research and teaching represents the best aspects of food processing engineering.Babcock-Hart Award

Fereidoon Shahidi, Ph.D, University Research Professor in Biochemistry at Memorial University, Canada, and cross-appointed to Biology, Ocean Sciences, and Aquaculture, has received the 2014 Babcock-Hart Award for his outstanding and substantial contributions to lipid science and technology, muscle foods, natural antioxidants, and functional foods.

Shahidi is the author of 740 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 64 books, and nine patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Functional Foods, Editor of Food Chemistry, editorial/advisory board member of the Journal of Food Science, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Journal of Food Science and Human Wellness, Journal of Food Bioscience, and Current Nutrition and Food Science. Shahidi is globally recognized for his contributions to food science and technology, has received numerous awards, and is a most highly cited scholar.Research and Development Award

Kevin Keener, Ph.D., Professor of Food Science, Purdue University, has received the 2014 Research and Development Award for his research program that enhances food quality and food safety, improves processing efficiencies, and reduces waste in food manufacturing.

Keener’s Purdue program promotes economically sustainable practices in the food industry through engagement with entrepreneurs, food companies, university researchers, students, and government agencies. He is a recognized expert in food safety, food processing, and food technology. His support of the food industry and food entrepreneurs has been recognized with numerous awards including the Macy Food Science and Technology Award, Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Award, American Egg Board Research Award, and the IAFIS-FPEI Emerging Food Engineer Award. In addition, he was recently named a Distinguished Fulbright Chair.

Carl R. Fellers Award

H. Russell Cross, Ph.D., Head, Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science, is the 2014 Carl R. Fellers Award recipient for his outstanding work to improve the field of food science, inspire food engineers and scientists, and provide leadership to IFT and Phi Tau Sigma.

Cross has been published extensively and has given over 200 presentations. He was Administrator of USDA’s Food Safety & Inspection Service under Presidents Bush and Clinton. He established and is President of the National Association for the Advancement of Animal Science, charged with lobbying federal funding sources to support animal research at the university level.

Samuel Cate Prescott Award

Hang Xiao, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has received the 2014 Samuel Cate Prescott Award for developing a highly innovative research program focused on improving the health and wellness of the food supply.

Xiao’s long-term research goal is to develop food-based strategies for the prevention of major chronic diseases in humans. Currently, Xiao’s research group is working on identifying potential disease preventive food components, elucidating their molecular mechanisms, investigating possible synergistic interactions among these food components, and enhancing biological activities and chemical stability of bioactive food components by food processing and nanotechnology. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has been awarded more than $4 million in research grants by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Bor S. Luh International Award

Theodore Labuza, Ph.D., Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Food Science and Engineering in the Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, has received the 2014 Bor S. Luh International Award for his outstanding efforts within the food industry and in support of academics worldwide.

Labuza, a Past President of IFT, has graduated 79 M.S. and 30 Ph.D. students and supervised over 45 undergraduate research projects, 45 visiting scientists, and 24 post-docs. Of those who completed a graduate degree or did post-doctoral study under his guidance, 29 are/were faculty members at universities internationally and another 6 at U.S. academic institutions, illustrating the global reach of his contributions. He has authored over 285 scientific refereed research articles, 18 textbooks, 78 book chapters, eight patents, and more than 110 other semi-technical articles.

He was selected as one of the most highly cited scientists in the area of Agriculture and Food Science based on citations to refereed research publications. Labuza has given over 1,000 invited technical and general lectures on food science and technology. He teaches courses in food physical chemistry, reaction kinetics, food safety and risk assessment, food processing, functional foods, and food law.

Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award

Buhler Barth GMBH has received the 2014 Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award for its research to preserve the hygienic and sanitary quality of foods in order to maintain the highest food safety standards for the sake of the health of the consumer and development of the Controlled Condensation Pasteurization Process (CCP), which was designed specifically to answer requirements to maintain natural quality of raw almonds. The CCP pasteurization technology pasteurizes particulate food items under humid conditions and controlled condensation of steam at the product surface. The CCP pasteurization technology is an impressive example of straightforward technological development in combination with engineering skills on sound physical principles, and by strictly observing quality requirements of food products.

William V. Cruess Award

F. Xavier Malcata, Professor, College of Engineering, University of Porto, has received the 2014 William V. Cruess Award for his mastery of process engineering subjects, ability to communicate effectively the principles and practices of food processing, enthusiasm for the field of food engineering as a profession, ability to stimulate students to select a professional career in this field, and capacity to counsel effectively.

Malcata has been teaching several university courses in the food science and technology field since 1988. Besides his direct involvement in establishing the first B.Sc. degree in Portugal, he has designed innovative syllabi and invested in novel learning methods. He has consistently earned some of the highest scores from students on teaching skills, as well as complimentary evaluations highlighting his unique enthusiasm and ability to deliver concepts, rationalize processes, and motivate students. He also contributed to evaluating and improving several degrees, besides writing 10 books covering various aspects of training and strategy and delivering more than 150 invited lectures worldwide. His excellence as an instructor has been previously recognized by Elmer Marth’s Educator Award granted by the International Association of Food Protection.

Sensory and Consumer Sciences Achievement Award

Herbert Stone, Ph.D., CFS, co-founder of the Sensory Evaluation Division and Past President, Tragon Corporation, received the 2014 Sensory and Consumer Sciences Achievement Award for profoundly impacting the field of sensory science, most notably with his development of the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA), which revolutionized how sensory scientists map the characteristics of foods and beverages.

Stone was a teaching assistant for the first sensory evaluation course offered at University of California, Davis, with Rose Marie Pangborn. He developed QDA while at Stanford Research Institute. Stone has taught sensory evaluation for more than 50 years in more than 50 countries; has more than 150 publications and is co-author of "Sensory Evaluation Practices”. Stone serves as an independent consultant and is Scientific Editor for Sensory and Quality for the Journal of Food Science and Chairs the Sensory Sciences Scholarship Fund.

Gilbert A. Leveille Award and Lectureship

John Erdman, Jr., Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, has received the 2014 Gilbert A. Leveille Award and Lectureship for his outstanding scholarly contributions. His recent contributions relate to bioactives in foods that have functional health impact. His group focuses primarily on carotenoids and their ability to fight cancer.

Erdman is one of the nation’s top leaders in food science and nutrition. He has more than 190 peer-reviewed publications and has received several national awards for teaching and research from professional societies including IFT and the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). He is a fellow of IFT, ASN (also past president), and the American Heart Association and served for many years on the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and has chaired a number of committee reports for IOM. In 2003 he was elected to membership in the IOM.

Bernard L. Oser Food Ingredient Safety Award

Charles Manley, Ph.D., CFS, Retired Vice President, Science and Technology at Takasago International Corporation, has received the 2014 Bernard L. Oser Food Ingredient Safety Award for his contributions to the scientific knowledge of the safety of food ingredients and flavors.

Manley has worked in various research and regulatory management positions during his career with major responsibilities in commercializing scientific research. His other professional experiences include serving as President of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) and President of IFT. His activities in these organizations focused on food and flavor ingredient safety. In 2002 he received the University of Massachusetts Chancellor’s Medal for his support to the university. In 2004 he was awarded IFT’s Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award, and in 2007 the Richard L. Hall Award for his work with FEMA on flavor ingredient safety. He has numerous publications in that area.

Stephen S. Chang Award for Lipid or Flavor Science Award

Alejandro Marangoni, Ph.D., Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, University of Guelph, has received the 2014 Stephen S. Chang Award for Lipid or Flavor Science for his significant contribution to lipid science and his fundamental discoveries about the nature of fat crystals that have not only increased understanding of fat crystals but also contributed significantly to enhancing the industrial uses of fats.

Marangoni studies the physical properties of foods, particularly fat crystallization and structure, and has published over 200 refereed research articles, 50 book chapters, 9 books, and 20 patents. He is the recipient of many awards, including the 2014 Supelco/Nicholas Pellick and the 2013 Stephen Chang awards from the American Oil Chemists’ Society. Marangoni is the co-editor-in-chief of Current Opinion in Food Science and past editor-in-chief of Food Research International. He has founded several high technology companies and is the co-recipient of the 2008 Guelph Partners of Innovation Innovator of the Year Award.

Marcel Loncin Research Prize

Lisa J. Mauer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Food Science, Director of the Center for Food Safety Engineering, Purdue University, has received the 2014 Marcel Loncin Research Prize for her research on the characterization and manipulation of water-solid interactions for physical and chemical stabilization of powdered food and bioactive ingredient systems and solid state structures with a current emphasis on creating amorphous solid dispersions of bioactive crystalline compounds.

Mauer teaches food chemistry, food ingredient functionality, and food packaging courses at Purdue University. She is a Fellow of the Purdue University Teaching Academy. Examples of her research, for which she has received the Purdue Agriculture Research Award and Faculty Scholar recognitions, include introducing the concepts of deliquescence and deliquescence-lowering to the food science field, improving the understanding of humidity effects on vitamins and other bioactive ingredient stability, and developing spectroscopy methods for the detection of chemical and pathogen contamination of foods.Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award

Robert Gravani, Ph.D., CFS, Professor of Food Science and Director of the National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Program at Cornell University, has received the 2014 Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award for providing continuous, outstanding service and stewardship to IFT for more than 45 years by serving in leadership positions on more than 40 committees, task forces, workgroups, and juries, including serving on the Board of Directors and as Past President.

Gravani joined IFT as a student and has been a lifelong member. He has always been an active and engaged member of IFT and currently serves as Chair of Feeding Tomorrow, the Foundation of IFT, and advisor to the IFT Student Association Fun Run committee. In addition, he is a Fellow of IFT and has represented IFT at numerous Section and Division meetings domestically and internationally.

Nicholas Appert Award

C. Patrick Dunne, Ph.D., Retired Senior Advisor in Advanced Processing and Nutritional Biochemistry for the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate at the U.S. Army Research Center, has received the 2014 Nicholas Appert Award for his leadership in focused research in advanced food processing that has led to transition to new processing technologies, such as high pressure processing, pulsed electric field processing, and microwave sterilization to move from laboratory research to industrial adoption and production of improved food products.

Dunne developed several major collaborative, multidisciplinary R&D teams to improve the state of advanced food processing with many achievements linked to the global reach of the IFT Nonthermal Processing Division, which he co-founded in 1998 and led as the first chair. He has helped enhance the science base of IFT through technical leadership in a wide range of activities to reach a broad range of food technologists to become aware of new opportunities in advancing the state of food processing with tangible examples of improved products. He worked directly with academic scientists and military ration producers in the Defense Logistics Agency’s Manufacturing Technology project CORANET to improve the family of packaged shelf-stable rations with extended high quality shelf lives via advances in packaging, processing, and formulation. Dunne used his perspective as a biochemist to drive implementation of advanced nutrient delivery systems for military rations to meet extra nutritional demands of stressful situations.

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