May 14, 2024

University of Maryland’s Catherine (Chengchu) Liu Named 2024 IFT Fellow, One of the Highest Honors in the Science of Food Community

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is pleased to announce that Catherine (Chengchu) Liu, PhD, has been selected as a 2024 IFT Fellow – one of the highest honors bestowed upon a member of the science of food community.

CHICAGO – May 14, 2024 – The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific organization with global members spanning academia, government, and industry, is pleased to announce that Catherine (Chengchu) Liu, PhD, has been selected as a 2024 IFT Fellow – one of the highest honors bestowed upon a member of the science of food community. Being recognized as an IFT Fellow is a unique professional distinction given to an IFT member who has achieved career excellence in addition to providing significant service and leadership to both IFT and the science of food profession.

Specifically, all nominees must demonstrate professional leadership through leading conferences, presentations, and other training and development programs; service and leadership to external advisory committees or boards; ongoing volunteer service to IFT; honors, awards, and other recognition within the science of food profession, as well as advancements to the science of food in industry, academia, government, or related organizations.

This year’s IFT Fellows will be celebrated at the Fellows Recognition Forum at IFT FIRST: Annual Event and Expo, which is being held July 14-17, 2024, at McCormick Place in Chicago. Only 10 IFT members out of more 11,000 received this prestigious recognition this year.

“I am truly honored and humbled to have been selected as part of the elite group of IFT Fellows,” said Liu.

At the University of Maryland, Liu is a tenured Extension Professor and leads a successful Maryland Sea Grant Seafood Technology Extension Program. Prior to that, she was the director of the Laboratory of Marine Bioresources Utilization at the Shanghai Ocean University in China for almost a decade, before moving to the U.S. to serve as visiting professor at the Food and Drug Administration Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory in Dauphin, Alabama. She continued her academic career as a visiting professor at Oregon State University Seafood Research and Education Center in Astoria. Throughout her career, Liu has taught and mentored over 1,500 food science students and has trained over 1,000 international professionals. She holds five patents and has edited/co-edited 9 books, co-authored 26 book chapters, published 88 peer-reviewed articles, and internationally presented at 55 invited lectures.

Liu received her master’s degree in food science from Southwest Agricultural University in Chongqing, China, before earning her PhD in food science at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan. Her scientific achievements have earned invitations to influential international gatherings organized by the FAO, WHO, and UNESCO, to name a few. She is President of the Chinese American Food Society, Board Director of the Maryland section of IFT, past chair and current member of the IFT Aquatic Food Products Division, and lifetime member of Phi Tau Sigma. She currently resides in Princess Anne, Maryland.

View the 2024 IFT Fellows.

About Institute of Food Technologists

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is a global organization of over 11,000 individual members from more than 100 countries committed to advancing the science of food. Since 1939, IFT has brought together the brightest minds in food science, technology and related professions from academia, government, and industry to solve the world’s greatest food challenges. IFT works to ensure that its members have the resources they need to learn, grow, and innovate to advance the science of food as the population and the world evolve. IFT believes that science and innovation is essential to ensuring a global food supply that is sustainable, safe, nutritious, and accessible to all. For more information, please visit ift.org.