June 11, 2024

USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Vivian C.H. Wu Named 2024 IFT Fellow, One of the Highest Honors in the Food Science Community

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is pleased to announce that Vivian C.H. Wu, PhD, Research Leader at USDA ARS (United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service) has been selected as a 2024 IFT Fellow, one of the highest honors bestowed upon a member of the science of food community.

CHICAGO – June 11, 2024 – The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific organization committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, is pleased to announce that Vivian C.H. Wu, PhD, Research Leader at USDA ARS (United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service) 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 humbled and extremely honored. This is a big encouragement to me and tells me that I need to continue to contribute, accomplish, and inspire,” said Wu.

Wu joined USDA ARS in 2015, where she leads the Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit at the agency’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California. Previously, she served as a Full Professor at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, where she also led the university’s Pathogenic Microbiology Laboratory. Throughout her career, she has been awarded over $20 million in grants for her research projects. Wu has received many awards for her work, including Grupo Bimbo’s Pan-American Nutrition, Food Science and Technology Award; the Chinese American Food Society’s Distinguished Service Award; and IFT’s Achievement Award in Microbial Research for Food Safety in Honor of Gerhard J. Haas.

Wu received her undergraduate degree in Life Science from National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan before earning her master’s degree and PhD, both in Food Microbiology, from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She is a member of IFT’s Northern California Section and Women’s Resource Group. Wu resides in San Francisco, California.

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 90 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.