Achievement Awards Honor Excellence in Food Science

On the surface, these individual honors might seem quite different. Some are given out every year, and others every other. Some are given by IFT alone, and others are designated in partnerships with organizations that include the American Society of Nutrition and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Still others are sponsored by companies such as Kellogg. But regardless of the specifics associated with the individual award’s structure, the Achievement Awards are united by their purpose: to recognize an individual or team for remarkable contributions in research, applications, and service in food science and technology.

Beginning this year, IFT has grouped these diverse awards into four groups that reflect the category of work they honor: Excellence in Leadership (Teaching, Service, Leadership), Global Impact, IFT Leadership, and Innovation. The Bor S. Luh International Award, for example, honors an IFT member or an institution whose outstanding efforts in the field of food technology resulted in an international exchange of ideas, while the Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual who has provided continuing, meritorious, and imaginative service to IFT.

“I am grateful to IFT for having the full gamut of awards and for recognizing members that achieve distinguished and lofty goals,” says Bruce Ferree, a 2015 Achievement Award winner. “Receiving the 2015 IFT Cal Willey Distinguished Service Award was a lifetime highlight. Like graduating college or getting married, it was a moment that will always be remembered fondly,” Ferree continues. “To receive such an award provides a true sense of accomplishment and creates a drive to continue working hard on all the important topics that IFT is involved in. It’s quite amazing to think I can be in the same league as previous recipients, who are some of my mentors.”

Regardless of the award type, the selection process is the same. A jury of IFT members and volunteers appointed by the IFT Office of the President and led by a jury chair reviews nominations, completes ballots, and notifies IFT of the winner. Award selection would not be possible without the service of the IFT members who volunteer as award jury participants and those who nominate their peers for recognition.

This year’s recipients reflect a diverse group of scientists and companies whose work touches all facets of food science. They will be honored at IFT16 during the Awards Celebration on Saturday, July 16, at McCormick Place; the ceremony welcomes recipients’ friends and family as well as all IFT16 attendees. Afterward, everyone can continue their celebration at the Welcome Reception.

Congratulations to the 2016 Achievement Award recipients.

Nicolas Appert Award
E. Allen Foegeding, PhD
North Carolina State University, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Food Science

Dr. E. Allen Foegeding is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Food Science and editor in chief of IFT scientific journals. Through exemplary teaching and research programs, his career has focused on advancing the understanding of chemical and physical properties of foods. Foegeding’s teaching program has received awards from both students and IFT and has spanned more than 30 years of courses in food chemistry, muscle foods, and colloidal and polymer properties of foods. His research on how proteins and polysaccharides function in foods has produced a foundation of knowledge on how structure determines food quality.

Stephen S. Chang Award for Lipid or Flavor Science
Karen Schaich, ScD
Rutgers University, Associate Professor

Dr. Karen Schaich is internationally recognized as a top contributor to the field of lipid oxidation. She has published extensively in the open literature and authored critical reviews on lipid oxidation. Schaich pioneered new approaches to studying the oxidation of lipids and proteins and developed methods to recover natural antioxidants from industrial waste streams. She introduced new approaches in teaching lipids and food science and was one of the first to introduce distance learning to food science programs.

Babcock-Hart Award
Edward Hirschberg
Innovative Foods, CEO

Edward Hirschberg is the recipient of the 2016 Babcock-Hart Award for his numerous contributions to food processing, particularly his innovations in the freeze-drying and dehydration of fruits and vegetables that have led to increased consumption of these healthful foods around the world. Examples include reversible compressed vegetables for submarines, Space Snak Ice Cream, designer foods for cancer prevention, and various parallel processing techniques using infrared dehydration.

William V. Cruess Award for Excellence in Teaching
Ronald Pegg, PhD
University of Georgia, Professor

University of Georgia professor Dr. Ron Pegg has been selected as the William V. Cruess Award winner for 2016. Pegg’s nomination was supported with generous accolades from former Cruess award winners, University of Georgia faculty, and students. He has been a member of IFT since 1994 and has served on several IFT panels. An enthusiastic supporter of IFT, Pegg regularly encourages his students to attend the IFT scientific and applied sessions and food expo.

Carl R. Fellers Award
Gary R. List, DSc
University of Illinois, Adjunct Professor
G.R. List Consulting, Consultant

Dr. Gary R. List has been a leader in food science for more than 50 years, committing his career to chemistry research and technology transfer of research outcomes with the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. List has published extensively, and many of his discoveries have resulted in bringing improved fats and oils to the marketplace. His research has focused on reducing and lowering trans fats in foods, reformulating foods to meet FDA nutrition labeling requirements, and bringing trait-modified vegetable oils to commercialization.

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Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award
PepsiCo Inc. (SoluOats)

PepsiCo is the recipient of the 2016 Food Technology Industrial Achievement Award for the development and commercialization of breakthrough technologies to enzymatically treat whole grain flours in a continuous process. SoluOats patented technology delivers highly soluble whole grain without off flavors, which can be added to a wide range of beverages and high-moisture foods. The process is easier, less expensive, and less time-consuming than prior processes.

Industrial Scientist Award
Chris Koh, PhD
PepsiCo Global R&D, Director, PepsiCo Global R&D Fellow

Dr. Chris Koh has been chosen to receive the 2016 Industrial Scientist Award for his research in dehydration and reaction kinetics to help transform PepsiCo’s food processing technologies, as well as his leadership as R&D Fellow in growing new capabilities, such as computational modeling and simulation for PepsiCo Global R&D. Koh serves a critically important role of working with both researchers and functional business partners to deliver novel technologies that can be translated into commercial platforms.

W.K. Kellogg International Food Security Award and Lectureship
Pablo Juliano, PhD
CSIRO, Senior Research Scientist

Dr. Pablo Juliano is the recipient of the 2016 W.K. Kellogg International Food Security Award and Lectureship to recognize the global impact he achieved in South American countries through the value addition of underutilized whey, and in Asia for his leadership in developing and implementing a novel megasonic separation technology to maximize aqueous-based oil recovery from oil-bearing fruits such as coconut and palm.

Gilbert A. Leveille Award and Lectureship
Bruce German, PhD
University of California, Davis, Professor

Dr. Bruce German has been chosen for the 2016 Gilbert A. Leveille Award for his innovative research demonstrating the importance of genomics of milk in disease prevention as well as the role of genomics of milk with fragile neonates (premature, born by cesarean section, small for date, etc.). This groundbreaking work combined the fields of food science and nutrition.

Marcel Loncin Research Prize
Shyam Sablani, PhD
Washington State University, Associate Professor of Food Engineering

Dr. Shyam S. Sablani received his PhD in food engineering in 1996 at McGill University in Canada. His research interests are designing high-barrier packaging and the physical and chemical stability of dehydrated and frozen foods. He coedited Handbook of Food and Bioprocess Modeling Techniques and published more than 150 scientific articles. He is currently scientific editor of the Food Engineering and Materials Science and the Nanoscale Food Science, Engineering, and Technology sections of the Journal of Food Science.

Bor S. Luh International Award
Jae Park, PhD
Oregon State University, Professor

Dr. Jae Park is being recognized for his contribution to technology transfer and the international exchange of ideas in the area of surimi technology. Park authored Surimi and Surimi Seafood, the industry’s leading reference book, and founded Oregon State University’s Surimi School Worldwide, which has provided three-day, hands-on workshops to nearly 6,000 food professionals from 45 countries. An expert in fish protein chemistry and processing, Park has furthered international economic development by the use of food technology.

Bernard L. Oser Food Ingredient Safety Award
Carl Winter, PhD
University of California, Davis, Extension Food Technologist

Dr. Carl Winter’s research and outreach activities focus on the risks, regulation, and public policy implications of chemical contaminants in food. He has provided U.S. congressional testimony and participated in more than 1,000 media interviews. He authored two books and more than 170 other publications, and he is well-known as an innovative educator for using musical parodies as an effective mechanism to convey food safety information. He is an IFT Fellow and received the Borlaug Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Communication Award in 2012.

Samuel Cate Prescott Award for Research
Lili He, PhD
University of Massachusetts, Assistant Professor

Dr. Lili He is the recipient of the 2016 Samuel Cate Prescott Award, which recognizes her significant contributions in developing an advanced analytical technique (i.e., surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) for food safety and chemistry applications. She has successfully utilized this technique for the detection of various chemical, biological, and nanoparticle contaminants in food.

Research and Development Award
Josip Simunovic, PhD
North Carolina State University, Research Associate Professor

Dr. Josip Simunovic has been chosen for the 2016 Research and Development Award for his consistent and successful focus on applied science and technology transfer, which has resulted in groundbreaking advances in the commercial application of advanced thermal processing and aseptic packaging. His exceptional ability to follow through from basic research to commercialization is commendable and has made a lasting impact on both academia and the commercial food industry.

Sensory and Consumer Sciences Achievement Award
Anne Goldman, CFS, MS
Applied Consumer & Clinical Evaluations, Vice-President

Anne Goldman is the recipient of the 2016 Sensory and Consumer Sciences Achievement Award in recognition of her lifelong contributions of actively supporting and advancing the application of sensory and consumer research to product development through education and mentorship. She has been a leader and advocate for excellence in sensory research methods, providing solutions to real-world product issues. As a global ambassador for sensory and consumer science, she has built respect and recognition for the profession.

Calvert L. Willey Distinguished Service Award
Michele Perchonok, PhD, CFS
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Manager, HRP Program Science Management Office

Dr. Michele Perchonok is being recognized for her exemplary work as a passionate volunteer in sections, divisions, and committees throughout her more than 30 years of distinguished service to IFT. Perchonok has served IFT in more than 30 volunteer opportunities—seven times as chair—and on the IFT Board of Directors. She has also inspired current and future food scientists in IFT’s award-winning Day in the Life of a Food Scientist video featuring NASA.

Trailblazer Award and Lectureship
Connie Weaver, PhD
Purdue University, Dept. of Nutrition Science, Distinguished Professor and Head
Women’s Global Health Institute, Director
Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Deputy Director

Dr. Connie Weaver was the first woman to hold positions such as president of the Indiana Section and chair of the IFT Program Committee at the national level. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Science Board to the Food and Drug Administration; NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health; and vice-chair of the Board of Trustees for the International Life Sciences Institute. She is a past president of the American Society for Nutrition and was a member of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.