IFT Fellows

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Fellow designation is an honor bestowed upon an IFT member by their peers to recognize career excellence and significant service, leadership, and contributions to IFT and the profession. To receive this distinction, you must first be nominated (self-nomination or nomination by your peers) and then selected by the IFT Fellows Jury.

2023 IFT Fellows

Xuetong Fan, PhD
Lead Scientist and Research Food Technologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Xuetong Fan is lead scientist and research food technologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has worked in the field of postharvest biology and technology, ionizing irradiation, and other nonthermal food technologies, as well as in food quality and the microbial and chemical safety of foods. His research on the use of 1-Methylcyclopropene to extend the storage life of fruits and vegetables has led to its commercial application around the world, and his studies on food irradiation have helped regulatory agencies make science-based decisions on the approval of irradiation use for lettuce, spinach, and other products. Dr. Fan currently leads a group of scientists, technicians, and postdoctoral associates in developing and modifying intervention technologies, as well as combining them with other pathogen-reduction treatments to improve the microbial safety of fresh produce and maintain its sensory and nutritional quality, chemical safety, and shelf-life. Over the past 30 years, his work has appeared in more than 450 publications, including 200 peer-reviewed articles. He has served as chair of the IFT Fruit and Vegetable Products Division and on several other IFT committees.

Santos Garcia, DSc
Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico

Santos Garcia is a professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, in Mexico, where he earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in microbiology. Dr. Garcia’s research focuses on the physiology, epidemiology, and control of foodborne pathogens. He has been a visiting scientist at the University of Massachusetts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Diseases Center, and the University of Kagoshima in Japan, and he provides extension services for the food industry. Dr. Garcia is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Mexican Researchers System, the Advisory Committee of the International Foundation for Science, and other organizations, and has served as president of both the Mexican Association of Food Science and the Mexican Association for Food Protection. He has been a professional member of IFT since 1994 and has participated in IFT’s Strategy Group and the Section and Affiliate Organization Development Task Force. He has coauthored or coedited eight books and is the recipient of several awards, including the International Leadership Award and the Harry Haverland Citation Award from the International Association for Food Protection.

M. Mónica Giusti, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University

M. Mónica Giusti is a distinguished professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University and a visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional Agraria in Peru. She leads the Giusti Phytochemicals Laboratory in the study of the chemistry and functionality of flavonoids and potent plant antioxidants, with an emphasis on anthocyanins and their application as natural food colorants. Dr. Giusti’s research has generated 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, 30 book chapters, four edited books, and nine patents. She is the recipient of the 2021 CFAES Distinguished Graduate Student Mentor Award and the 2020 CFAES Senior Faculty Researcher of the Year Award from Ohio State, IFT’s 2019 Excellence in Education Award in honor of William V. Cruess, and the 2017 Educator Award from the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Born in Lima, Peru, Dr. Giusti earned a food engineering degree from the Universidad Nacional Agraria and graduate degrees in food science from Oregon State University. She is a member of the American Chemical Society and AOAC International and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Julie M. Goddard, PhD
Professor, Cornell University

A professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, Julie M. Goddard worked in industry as a research engineer before returning to academia to establish a program on biomaterials and biointerfaces in food and agriculture. Her work with graduate and undergraduate students to develop new biocatalytic systems, active food packaging materials, and functional coatings has been reported in more than 100 publications and awarded several patents. In addition to awards from the American Chemical Society and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Dr. Goddard is the recipient of IFT’s 2020 Collaborative Research Grant in honor of Marcel Loncin and 2015 Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott. Since joining IFT as a student in 1999, Dr. Goddard has maintained active involvement as a professional member, serving on numerous committees, authoring publications in IFT journals, presenting at annual meeting sessions, and serving as associate editor for the Journal of Food Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a doctoral degree in food science, both from Cornell University.

Brendan Niemira, PhD
Research Leader, Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Brendan Niemira is the research leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Intervention Technologies Research Unit. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and his doctorate from Michigan State University. Dr. Niemira joined the USDA-ARS in 1999 as a research microbiologist and now leads a team of more than 20 scientists and engineers in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, developing tools to kill human pathogens on produce, meats, eggs, and other foods. His personal research has focused on the development and validation of cold plasma, irradiation, and other nonthermal food processing technologies. He has published more than 180 peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, and critical reviews, is the coeditor of a well-regarded reference text, and holds one patent. Dr. Niemira has served on the IFT Board of Directors and as chair of the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel (AMSPAP). He is the recipient of the 2016 Department of Defense Award for Excellence.

Robert F. Roberts, PhD
Professor and Head of the Food Science Department, The Pennsylvania State University

After earning a doctorate in food science at the University of Minnesota in 1991, Bob Roberts joined the faculty of the Food Science Department at The Pennsylvania State University, where he has served as professor and department head since 2013. Since joining Penn State, the major theme of his scholarly efforts has been the integration of research, teaching, and outreach programs in the science of dairy foods. He considers the education and development of people to be the primary responsibility of a faculty member and has consistently mentored undergraduate and graduate students as part of his research program, provided leadership to the undergraduate program in food science, and worked closely with the Food Science Club as an advisor. Dr. Roberts’s research focuses on the microbiology and technology of fermented dairy foods. He has served as the director of the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course and Ice Cream 101 for 25 years. He is a past president of the American Dairy Science Association and an active member of IFT, currently serving on the IFT Higher Education Review Board. He received The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society Academic Advising Award and the Milk Industry Foundation Teaching Award in Dairy Science and was selected as an Outstanding Alumnus of the University of Vermont’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Dojin (DJ) Ryu, PhD, CFS
Professor, University of Idaho

Dojin Ryu has been named director of the Division of Food, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences (FNES) in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), and chair of the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology (NEP) in CAFNR and the School of Medicine, effective Aug. 1, 2023. Dr. Ryu joins the University of Missouri from the Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences at the University of Idaho, where he serves as a professor. He has been working on chemical food safety since completing his doctorate in food science and technology with an emphasis on environmental toxicology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With two decades of continuous funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Ryu’s research focuses on molds and mycotoxins in foods and their chemical and toxicological fate during food processing. He is also developing food safety education for hard-to-reach populations, such as the deaf and hard of hearing, with an integrative approach. Dr. Ryu has been active in IFT serving in leadership roles in the Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division and as a delegate to the CODEX Committee on Contaminants in Foods, among others. He also serves both public and professional communities in various capacities, including as a member of the Science Board to the FDA, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Information Council, and as a scientific editor for the Journal of Food Science.

Chin-Kun Wang, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan

Chin-Kun Wang is a distinguished professor at Chung Shan Medical University, in Taiwan. His professional activities include service as executive councilor of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology, chair of IFT’s Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Division, former president of the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, and honorary president of the Nutrition Society of Taiwan. Dr. Wang is a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology and the International Society for Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. He earned his doctorate from National Taiwan University and began work at Chung Shan Medical University in 1993. In 1996, he was promoted to full professor and during his career has served in numerous leadership positions at the university, including vice president and president. His research focuses on human clinical trials and human metabolism of medicine, nutritional supplements, nutraceuticals, herbs, and functional foods. Recently, he began studying precision nutrition using big data. He earned the National Award of Biomedicine for his contribution to medical education, as well as several awards for outstanding research. For food safety and nutrition, he has promoted legislation for school sanitary law and national nutrition law.

Jianping Wu, PhD
Professor, University of Alberta

Jianping Wu is a professor and director of the Division of Food Science and Bioresource Technology in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He earned his doctorate in food engineering from Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Hong Kong, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, University of Manitoba, and Iowa State University. His research focuses on bioprocessing of food proteins for human health and protein sustainability. He has made numerous original contributions to the fields of bioactive peptides, egg science and technology, and protein sustainability, for which he was recognized with IFT’s 2021 Public Health Award in honor of Babcock-Hart and Gilbert A. Leveille. Dr. Wu is a Fellow of the American Chemical Society’s Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division. He is a dedicated IFT member, serving as the past chair of the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Division, as a jury member of numerous IFT awards and student competitions, and as a reviewer of IFT technical abstracts and journal publications.

Qixin Zhong, PhD
Professor, University of Tennessee

As a professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Qixin Zhong specializes in food ingredient science and technology. He earned his doctorate with double majors in food science and chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in 2003 and has been a faculty member in the Department of Food Science at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, since 2005. Dr. Zhong applies materials science and engineering principles to understand, improve, and design multi-length scale structures that enable functions of food ingredients to improve food quality, safety, and healthfulness. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed research papers and more than 200 meeting abstracts. He has also served as editor-in-chief of Food Biophysics and as an editorial board member of the Journal of Food Science and other journals. He has taught undergraduate courses in food chemistry and food analysis and graduate courses in food colloids, physical properties of food biopolymers, and food rheology. Dr. Zhong was president of IFT’s Volunteer Section in 2018-19 and has twice received IFT’s Outstanding Volunteer Award. He is the 2012 recipient of IFT’s Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott.

IFT Fellows

A complete listing of IFT Fellows since 1970 by decade is included below. View an alphabetical Fellows directory.
*indicates a deceased Fellow