Additional Leadership

Get to know the leaders of IFT's workgroups, task forces, committees, and boards. For current volunteers, log in to IFT Connect to connect with your colleagues. 

The Audit & Risk Management Committee oversees the independence and performance of the outside auditors and presents the audited financial statements to the Board of Directors.

Chair

  • Peggy Poole

Members

  • Mohamed Badaoui Najjar
  • Chris Daubert
  • Chris Downs
  • Sean Leighton
  • Jaime Reeves
  • Gunnar Sigge

Staff Liaisons

  • Mark Barenie, Senior Vice President & CFO
  • Jon Cabello, Manager, Financial Accounting & Reporting
  • Iwona Kossak, Director of Finance
  • Christie Tarantino-Dean, CEO
  • Terry Merkley, Vice President, Information Technology

Oversees the finances and investments to ensure stability and integrity and presents the annual budget to the Board of Directors for approval.

Chair

  • Noel Anderson

Members

  • Bill Barrier
  • Chris Daubert
  • Chris Downs
  • Stephanie Jung
  • Sean Leighton
  • Nancy Moriarity

Staff Liaisons

  • Mark Barenie, Senior Vice President & CFO
  • Jon Cabello, Manager, Financial Accounting & Reporting
  • Iwona Kossak, Director of Finance
  • Christie Tarantino-Dean, CEO

The Leadership Development Committee works to enhance the identification, development, and involvement of emerging leaders, and to ensure all candidates have leadership qualities with an emphasis on effective generational leadership transition.

Chair

  • Jonathan Merkle

Chair Designate

  • Amy Wang

Past Chair

  • Michele Perchonok

Members

  • Tracy Bargman
  • Luan Blancher
  • Mary Carunchia
  • Chris Downs
  • Katy Galle
  • Brendan Niemira
  • Robert Roberts
  • Randy Worobo

Staff Liaison

  • Felicia Owens, Executive Governance and Business Administrator

Conducts the final review and selection of scientific sessions for the IFT FIRST: Annual Event & Expo to ensure the program is of the highest quality and addresses recent advancements and challenges in the science of food. AMSPAP will be charged with accepting sessions as IFT FIRST Individual Presentations, curating Scientific & Technical Forums, and determining gaps within the program.

Chair

  • Soo-Yeun Lee

Chair-Elect

  • Matthew Teegarden

Past Chair

  • Jacqueline Beckley

Members

  • Nandika Bandara
  • Liliana Casal-Wardle
  • Lacey Durrance
  • Innocensia John
  • Layal Karam
  • Alexandra Kazaks
  • Stephanie Kobany
  • Prateek Mathur
  • Anuj Purohit
  • Anna Maria Quiros
  • Sonali Raghunath
  • Kartik Shah
  • Prateek Sharma
  • David Tonucci
  • Johan ‘Job’ Ubbink
  • Dilek Uzunalioglu
  • Jennifer Vahalik
  • Pranav Vashisht
  • Chin-Kun Wang

Scientific Discovery Workgroup Chair

  • Serap Vatansever

Trend Setting Workgroup Chair

  • Lara Ramdin

IFT Board Liaison

  • Suzanne Johanningsmeier

Staff Liaisons

  • Tracy Fink, Director, Scientific Programs & Science and Policy Initiatives
  • Maya Salazar, Manager, Scientific Programs

The Trend Setting Workgroup is charged with identifying and inviting non-traditional disciplines to the IFT FIRST: Annual Event & Expo to inspire out-of-box thinking and idea sharing. This workgroup will develop Fireside Chat sessions that highlight cutting-edge technology and research, as well as future trends and innovations.

Chair

  • Lara Ramdin

Members

  • Robert Harwood
  • Nitin Joshi
  • Neta Lavon
  • Annette Maggi
  • Lisa Navarro
  • Bolanle Otegbayo
  • Mary Kay Pohlschneider
  • Maxine Roman

Staff Liaison

  • Tracy Fink, Director, Scientific Programs & Science and Policy Initiatives
  • Maya Salazar, Manager, Scientific Programs

The Scientific Discovery Workgroup ensures the IFT FIRST: Annual Event & Expo remains a must-attend event for the scientific and academic community to present research, share teaching resources, form collaborations, and establish global networks by recruiting and promoting Research Promotion presentations by pre-tenured faculty, recent PhD graduates, post-docs, and grant project awardees.

Chair

  • Serap Vatansever

Members

  • Dawn Bohn
  • Aaron Dudley
  • Rajesh Kumar
  • Saurabh Kumar
  • Paula Ormando
  • Hasmukh Patel
  • Cordelia Selomulya
  • Sonali Sharma

Staff Liaisons

  • Tracy Fink, Director, Scientific Programs & Science and Policy Initiatives
  • Maya Salazar, Manager, Scientific Programs

The Division Champion Team plays a critical role in helping map out the future of the Division program. The DCT partners with IFT staff to develop strategies to help our passionate volunteers and members achieve the full potential of the Division program. The DCT works to bring Divisions together in a cross-disciplinary function.

Members

  • Jose Bonilla
  • Michelle Bruan
  • Hongda Chen
  • Colin Dennis
  • Jonathan Kershaw
  • Kiruba Krishnaswamy
  • Julie Mann
  • Gunnar Sigge

Staff Liaisons

  • Melanie Bozek, Manager, Division Experiences & Content
  • Jay Gilbert, Director, Scientific Programs & Career Pathways
  • John Ruff, Chief Science Advisor
  • Sydnie Nugent, Coordinator, Digital Content & Volunteer Experiences

IFT’s Journal of Food Science (JFS) offers scientists, researchers, and the broader food professional community the opportunity to share scientific advancements in the myriad of disciplines affecting their work, through a highly-respected, peer-reviewed process to help advance the science of food and food innovation across the globe.

The Editor in Chief of JFS is Richard Hartel, PhD.

Find out more

IFT’s Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (CRFSFS) provides in-depth coverage of a narrowly defined topics on any food science or food safety aspect.

The Editor in Chief of CRFSFS is Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, CFS.

For more information

To support the Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) mission and vision, the IFT Higher Education Review Board (HERB) rigorously assesses undergraduate food science programs that meet its high IFT Undergraduate Education Standards for Degrees in Food Science. In addition, HERB also provides content and assessment guidelines and resources to facilitate quality and promote continuous improvement for the preparation of food science professionals.

HERB is responsible for:

  • Evaluating/reviewing/approving/supporting Baccalaureate curricula and programs
  • Responding to global inquiries for program approval and providing guidance and support as needed
  • Continually reviewing program approval guidelines to ensure relevance

Chair

  • Enrique Palou

Members

  • Soohyoun Ahn
  • Grace Akinyemi
  • Suvaluk Asavasanti
  • Vermont Dia
  • Erin Dormedy
  • Minh Duong
  • Leonora dL Francisco
  • Clifford Hall
  • Niamh Harbourne
  • Patricia Hingston
  • Tristan Lipkie
  • Bwalya Lungu
  • Sihui Ma
  • Byungjin (BJ) Min
  • Keshavan Niranjan
  • Chitra Ponnusamy
  • Clint Stevenson
  • Jeffrey Swada
  • Charlene Van Buiten
  • Josephine Wee

Student Member

  • Thilini Dissanayake

Staff Liaison

  • Christina Ginardi, Director, Academic Engagement

Oversees the governance and policymaking of IFT’s credentialing activities.

Chair

  • Bruce Ferree

Past Chair

  • Moira McGrath

Members

  • Anton Angelich
  • Kanika Bhargava
  • Julia Carey
  • Janet Collins
  • Bertram Emond
  • Aliyar Fouladkhah
  • Tom McClean
  • Richard Metivier
  • Joseph Petho

IFT Board Liaison

  • Gunnar Sigge

Staff Liaisons

  • Corrine Calice, Senior Director, Knowledge and Learning
  • Michael Galbincea, Manager, Education Technology and Certification