Processing column transition; General Mills scholarship winners

Collins joins CropLife America
Janet Collins, immediate past president of IFT, joined CropLife America (CLA) as senior vice president of science and regulatory affairs, bringing more than 25 years of experience in regulatory affairs and nutrition science to the role.

Collins spent the past nine years at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., where she served as global technology manager and senior manager of corporate regulatory affairs. In that role, she led corporate regulatory food strategy development and formal advocacy implementation; provided regulatory policy leadership for global standards setting organizations; and provided regulatory advice and nutrition strategy for DuPont. Prior to her tenure at DuPont, Collins was director and lead for global regulatory organizations for Monsanto Co.

“We are excited to have Dr. Collins lead our science and regulatory team. With her proven expertise and experience, she brings a globally credible voice on agricultural science to CropLife America and can now apply her knowledge of food and agriculture to our mission and goals in serving the crop protection industry,” said Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA.

Collins received a BS and MS in experimental foods and nutrition from the University of Georgia, Athens; a PhD in animal science from the University of Wyoming, Laramie; and is a registered dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as a Certified Food Scientist.

IFT launches learning management system
IFT has released its new learning management system, which offers a clean, streamlined interface to provide a user-friendly experience for IFT’s learners. The new platform, Path, now hosts IFT’s eight online courses, upcoming live webcasts or “virtual events,” and an on-demand webcast catalog of more than 50 recorded webcasts. Visit https://www.pathlms.com/ift-learn-online and sign in to explore everything the new system has to offer, and for a limited time, take advantage of a 15% discount on courses and webcasts by entering the code LEARNONLINE1214 at checkout.

General Mills scholarship/internship winners
Feeding Tomorrow, the foundation of IFT, has partnered with General Mills to recognize the exceptional leadership and scholastic achievements of two graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in food science. Congratulations to the 2015 recipients, Kartheek Anekella and José Estrada Andino, who will each receive a $5,000 scholarship and a 12-week paid internship in the summer of 2015. To learn more about Feeding Tomorrow or to explore a similar program with your organization, please e-mail Amanda Perl at [email protected].

Anekella is currently a student at North Carolina State University pursing a PhD in food science and microbiology. He completed his undergraduate degree at the Vellore Institute of Technology University in India and his master’s at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is looking forward to working on a collaborative project and a team involving people from R&D, marketing, and sales. “I want to leverage my academic product development experience in an industrial setting where the product launch rate and decision making is much faster,” said Anekella.

Estrada Andino is a student at Louisiana State University pursuing a PhD in protein chemistry, chronic disease prevention, and research and development. He completed his undergraduate degree at Zamorano University in Honduras and his master’s at Louisiana State University. He is eager to better understand the current and future trends and strategies of the food industry, specifically in the areas of new functional ingredients and health promotion. “In the long term, the technical skills, business qualities, and leadership development provided by General Mills will support my career contributions to the food industry in the USA and abroad,” he said.

Rosskam wins leadership award
Skip Rosskam, a professional member of IFT, was recently presented with SmartCEO Magazine’s Circle of Excellence Award in the International Business category. The annual awards program recognizes excellence in Philadelphia’s business leaders.

Rosskam is president and chief operating officer of David Michael & Co. In accepting the award, he noted, “The power that we all have in this room is the energy and passion we create in our businesses…it gives us the competitive edge.”

McLellan serving on NAREEE Advisory Board
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has reappointed Mark R. McLellan to serve on the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, which advises the Secretary of  Agriculture and land-grant colleges and universities on top national priorities and policies for food and agricultural research, education, extension, and economics.

McLellan, a professional member of IFT and an IFT Fellow, was nominated for the appointment by the Institute of Food Technologists. He is vice president of research and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Utah State University and a Certified Food Scientist.

A processing column transition
The December issue of Food Technology marked the conclusion of J. Peter Clark’s 12-year tenure as the magazine’s processing column editor. Beginning this month, the column will be authored by Tara McHugh, research leader with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Albany, Calif. McHugh will contribute 10 columns annually, and Clark will continue to handle Food Technology’s preshow and postshow processing coverage. 

Clark’s distinguished career includes positions as director of research at ITT Continental Baking, where he standardized the formulation for Twinkies; president of Epstein Process Engineering; and associate professor of chemical engineering at Virginia Tech. Currently, he is chair and chief technical officer of Foodexus LLC, a new company that is working to commercialize a patent-pending refrigeration process he invented. A professional member of IFT, Certified Food Scientist, and IFT Fellow, Clark has held numerous IFT roles. He has a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

An author and active volunteer who has traveled the world consulting on food engineering projects for charitable causes, Clark currently serves as board president of the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. He and his wife, Nancy, enjoy hosting concerts at their home and presenting a series of free folk music performances at their local library. His plans for the future, in addition to consulting, include enjoying his three grandchildren and mentoring young professionals.

McHugh, a professional member of IFT who has a PhD in food science from the University of California, Davis, has been with ARS for 21 years, beginning as a postdoctoral researcher and working her way up to the current position. Her research focus is on innovative, sustainable processes to improve the healthfulness and safety of foods and transferring those new technologies into commercialization via partnerships with industry.

In addition to raising her two sons, McHugh counts kickboxing, meditating, Gestalt processing, and reading among her interests.

The staff of Food Technology gratefully acknowledges Peter’s many contributions to the magazine and enthusiastically welcomes Tara to the team.

Section & Division meetings

British Columbia
Feb. 25: Suppliers’ night. Burnaby, B.C. Contact Mike Dolling at 604-653-5215 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1u3kGsR.

Florida
Feb. 18–19: Suppliers’ night. Orlando, Fla. Contact Luis Martinez at 904-268-8999 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1tdgCTb. See ad in the Classified Marketplace.

New York
Feb. 10: Student night. New Brunswick, N.J. Contact Gerri Cristantiello at 201-905-0090 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1yGwa3x.

Feb. 27: Hockey night. Newark, N.J. Contact Gerri Cristantiello at 201-905-0090 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1yGwa3x.

Oregon
Feb. 23: Suppliers’ night. Portland, Ore. Contact Zak Wiegand at 541-368-7840 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1wDwYou.

Southern California
March 4: Suppliers’ night. Anaheim, Calif. Contact Linda Rogers at 714-282-0919 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1zEyMU0. See ad in the Classified Marketplace.

South Eastern
Feb. 4: Food industry expo. Atlanta, Ga. Contact Shirley Barber at 207-839-3064 or [email protected], or visit http://bit.ly/1rxoM4Y.