EDUCATION NEWS

Morrissey receives McFee seafood award
At the 44th Atlantic Fisheries Technology Conference held November 10-14, 1999, in Atlantic Beach, N.C., the 30th Earl P. McFee Award was presented to Michael T. Morrissey for his outstanding contributions to the field of seafood processing and safety. A Professional Member of IFT, Morrissey is Director of the Oregon State University Seafood Laboratory in Astoria, Ore.

The Earl P. McFee Award was established in 1971 to honor the industrialist Earl P. McFee for his lifelong contributions to the seafood industry. The award is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence with international stature in the field of seafood science and technology.

Ezeike named Fellow by Nigerian Society of Agricultural Engineers
Gabriel Ezeike of Nsukka, Nigeria, was named a Fellow by the Nigerian Society of Agricultural Engineers (NSAE). He is a postdoctoral associate at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement, Griffin. The fellowship was awarded to Ezeike in recognition of his contributions to the fields of agricultural engineering and food science.

Ezeike’s past offices with NSAE include being Executive Secretary from 1980 to 1982 and pioneer Editor of the Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. His other honors include being a member of both national and international accreditation panels for agricultural engineering programs at universities, polytechnic schools, and colleges in Nigeria. He has also served as Department Head of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nigeria at Nssuka.

Comprehensive Qualitative Analysis pinpoints Cheddar properties
Sensory evaluation of cheese has for years eluded the scientific process of cheese production, but Mary Anne Drake, Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology, Mississippi State University, has developed a standardized, descriptive list of terms that will help manufacturers around the globe to process, evaluate, and market their cheeses more effectively. In addition, her method serves as an analytical tool for research and new product development.

Drake and her team of sensory evaluation experts from the dairy industry decided to concentrate their efforts on one type of cheese only, Cheddar cheese. With funding provided by America’s dairy farmers and managed by Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI), Drake’s team assembled more than 250 different samples of Cheddar cheese from national and international sources. After a three-month collection period, Drake, consultant Gail Vance Civille, Charlie White of Mississippi State, an expert American Dairy Science Association scorecard judge, and Bob Aschebrock, a retired USDA cheese grader, tasted every sample. Another group of 14 cheese experts from industry, academia, and government helped generate a basic language of 23 words to describe Cheddar flavor, which Drake and her team then fine-tuned into standard references of 14–16 words, all terms associated with identifiable chemical or food references.

By being a common language recognized worldwide, this vocabulary serves to augment grading and judging. Processors now can use descriptive terms such as sulfur, nutty, bitter, or lactone to generate a flavor profile of their Cheddar cheese. By combining this descriptive sensory analysis with consumer preferences, they can target-market their product to either a broad segment of the population, or to specialized niches.

 For more information about the cheese lexicon for Cheddar developed by Drake, call the DMI toll-free hotline at 800-248-8829; or visit DMI’s Web site at www.extraordinarydairy.com.

University of Maine offers distance education
This summer, the University of Maine Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition will offer its first asynchronous distance learning graduate course, FSN 603—Nutrients and Food Processing.

The class, taught by Associate Professor and IFT Nutrition Division Chair Mary Ellen Camire, will be taught completely via the Internet from July 10 through August 25. Topics to be covered include the effects of food processing on nutrients and other health-promoting food compounds, use of nutrient databases, and functional foods. Two other Internet courses (FSN 101—Introduction to Food and Nutrition; and FSN 230—Nutritional and Medical Terminology) will be offered during the fall semester.

For further information, call Dr. Camire at 207-581-1627; e-mail [email protected]. For registration information, consult the University of Maine’s web site at http://webct.umaine.edu:8900/public/FSN603/index.html.

Walker-Foley receives NCSU’s 1999 Keller Research Award
Shirley Ann Walker-Foley, who received her Ph.D. in food science from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in July 1999, has received the prestigious Kenneth R. Keller Research Award for 1999. The recipient of this award, consisting of a plaque and a check for $1,000, is chosen by members of the Academy of William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professors at NCSU.

Walker-Foley did her doctoral dissertation research on “Developing Molecular Tools That Can Prevent Viral Infections of Bacterial Cultures Used in Cheese and Dairy Fermentations” under the supervision of Todd R. Klaenhammer, William Neal Reynolds Professor, NCSU Department of Food Science.

Theuer becomes Adjunct Professor at North Carolina State
Richard C. Theuer has joined the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Department of Food Science for a five-year term as Adjunct Professor. He will teach a course and conduct joint research efforts with NCSU professors Boyd, Allen, and Catignani.

Theuer received his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently a Vice President of Research and Development at Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp., St. Louis, Mo., where he managed changes in the STAGES baby food line and the development of an organic baby food line.

European Bakery Tour Scheduled for October
Joseph G. Ponte Jr., Professor Emeritus of the Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, will conduct a 14-day study tour of bakeries in four European countries October 2–16, 2000.

The tour will include visits to both small and large bakeries in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, as well as ingredient manufacturers and a well-known baking research institute. A highlight of the tour will be a visit to IBA 2000, a large baking exhibition held every three years in Munich, Germany. The bakery tour is designed for anyone who has an interest in baking or in baking-related activities. Europe has a long tradition in bakery foods, and Europeans produce a great diversity of quality products.

For more information, contact Ponte at 785-532-4809; fax 785-532-7010 or Cindy Falk, Director of Educational and Consumer Services, Kansas Wheat Commission, at 785-539-0255; fax 785-539-8946.

Penn State Initiative supports the state’s food processing industry
A university-wide task force of Penn State faculty and technology-transfer experts is helping to implement the Food Industry Initiative in Pennsylvania, a focused effort to support the state’s food manufacturing and processing industry which grew out of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge’s “Technology 21 Initiative,” which identified six business sectors, including agribusiness, that could develop family-sustaining, high-technology jobs in the Commonwealth.

A 1999 task force identified 97 areas in the Penn State system with potential to support the needs of the food processing and manufacturing industry, including education, research, technical training/certification, workforce training, and product commercialization. The Initiative brings leaders from industry, academia, and government together to strengthen connections and address common issues affecting the industry’s profitability and viability. Coordinated by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the university will create a centralized access point for research, training, and development opportunities for the 3,000 food processing firms located in Pennsylvania.