IFT Honors 2020 Class of Fellows

For 50 years, IFT has been recognizing exemplary contributions to the field of food science and technology with the IFT Fellow designation. Recipients are honored for their accomplishments in the areas of scholarly advancement, service to the profession, inspiration of others to excel in the food science and technology field, primary responsibility for the success of a new food product, and/or improvement of the human condition via food science and technology. Whether working in industry, academia, or the regulatory area, IFT Fellows have shaped the science of food in immeasurably valuable ways.

IFT Fellows belong to an elite group. To be nominated, an individual must be active in the profession and have been a non-student IFT member for at least 15 consecutive years. All members may nominate candidates, and a group of IFT Fellows serves on a jury to elect the new class of Fellows. In 2020, 12 members were named Fellows.

“Being an IFT Fellow is one of the highest recognitions a food scientist can receive in the world,” says Milda Embuscado, a member of the 2019 class of Fellows. “It was a great honor for me to receive such a prestigious award from IFT. I am indebted to the scientists and professors and to the IFT [members] who have validated and recognized my contributions. This inspires me to work harder and better so I can give back and contribute as much as I have received.”

Kudos to the 2020 class of Fellows!

Jonathan C. Allen, PhD

Jonathan Allen is a professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Science at North Carolina State University and director of the food science graduate program. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in milk and dairy products, lactation, exercise nutrition, and energy metabolism. His research projects cover glycemic control as impacted by food processing and bioactive components in foods such as sweet potato, peanuts, and milk; nutrient fortification of flour; and processing strategies. Allen has gained an international reputation for the understanding and potential amelioration of infant growth retardation, metabolic bone disease, diabetes, and hypertension. He has trained individuals who now work in the food industry, government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations in more than a dozen countries. Allen was chair of IFT’s Dairy Foods Division, leads technical research paper reviews and graduate student competitions for IFT, and is on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Task Force.

Robert Brackett, PhD

Robert E. Brackett is vice president of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH). In these capacities, he serves on the IIT leadership team and directs scientific and educational programs at IFSH. Brackett has almost 40 years of experience in food safety research, training, and policy. His accomplishments include 18 book chapters, more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications, and more than 300 oral presentations. Brackett received his PhD in food science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to working for IIT, Brackett was chief science and regulatory officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which is now the Consumer Brands Association (CBA). Before joining the CBA, he was the director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Brackett has also held academic positions with North Carolina State University and the University of Georgia.

Keith Cadwallader, PhD

Keith Cadwallader is a food chemistry professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the University of Illinois in 1999, he worked as an assistant professor at Louisiana State University and as an assistant professor and an associate professor at Mississippi State University. Through his research and teaching, Cadwallader has made fundamental and applied contributions to the current understanding of flavor chemistry and analysis. He received the prestigious 2007 Stephen S. Chang Award for Excellence in Lipid or Flavor Science from IFT. In 2010, Cadwallader was elected Fellow in the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society in recognition of his scientific contributions to the field of agricultural and food chemistry, specifically in the area of flavor science. He is the recipient of the University of Illinois 2016 College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACES) Senior Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and the 2017 College of ACES Paul A. Funk Recognition Award at the University of Illinois. He received his BS degree from the University of Georgia and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Florida.

Rolando A. Flores, PhD

Rolando A. Flores is the dean and chief administrative officer of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University (NMSU). He is an active member of IFT, a Water for Food Daugherty Global Institute Faculty Global Fellow, and member of the Cereals & Grains Association (prior AACCI) and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Prior to working for NMSU, Flores was professor and head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and director of the university’s food processing center. His research is focused on value-added agricultural products and by-products, simulation and optimization of processing systems, and water reconditioning and reuse in food processing. Flores earned a PhD in grain science and industry from Kansas State University, an MS in agricultural engineering from Iowa State University, and a BS in mechanical engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica.

P. Kumar Mallikarjunan, PhD

Kumar Mallikarjunan is a food engineer, a researcher, and an educator. For more than 25 years, he has contributed significantly to the field of food science and technology through his research on frying technology, microwave-assisted extraction of phytochemicals, and development of rapid methods to characterize food products via electronic nose and infrared spectroscopy. He helped lead multi-institutional research on aflatoxin mitigation and management in the peanut value chain in sub-Saharan Africa. His research has produced more than 250 publications, including refereed articles, books, and book chapters. He is actively engaged in IFT, providing leadership at the section and national levels, and currently serves as president of the Minnesota Section of IFT. His professional accomplishments have been recognized by several awards, including the Outstanding Alumni for Research Excellence from the Asian Institute of Technology, the Kishida International Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the Bor S. Luh International Award from IFT.

Carmen I. Moraru, PhD

Carmen I. Moraru is a professor of food processing and chair of the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. She received both her BS and PhD in food engineering from the University of Galati, Romania. After working in the dairy industry and then in academia in Romania for 10 years, Moraru joined Rutgers University in 1999 as a postdoctoral associate and then research assistant professor. She became a faculty member at Cornell University in 2003. Moraru’s teaching and research program at Cornell focuses on using engineering principles and novel processing methods to improve food quality and safety. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and research abstracts and is often invited to speak at professional meetings around the globe. Moraru has served IFT in various capacities, including as chair and secretary of the Nonthermal Processing Division and as a member of various work groups and task forces. She has won two teaching awards from Cornell University as well as the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Award in Dairy Foods Research, and the IDFA Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing. In 2019, she received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Romania.

Zhongli Pan, PhD

Zhongli Pan is an internationally recognized and accomplished leader, food engineer, and scholar in the field of food and agricultural processing engineering. He has performed extensive outreach, teaching, technology transfer, and commercialization across government, academia, and industry. He leads and conducts innovative and impactful scientific research and development on new processing technologies, which have been successfully applied in the food industry and contributed significantly toward global advancement of engineering solutions to food and agricultural problems. Pan has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Award for Outstanding Commercialization Success from the Federal Laboratory Consortium, and IFT’s Research and Development Award. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. He has served on the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel and on various IFT committees.

Melvin A. Pascall, PhD

Melvin Pascall began his career in the food packaging industry in 1973 in Trinidad. After 15 years, he obtained an MS degree in food science and environmental toxicology and a PhD in packaging science from Michigan State University. After a six-year stint at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Chicago and Washington D.C., Pascall joined the faculty at The Ohio State University in 2002. He currently teaches and conducts research in food packaging, safety, regulations, and product shelf life. The food industry, academia, and regulatory agencies know Pascall as an expert in food packaging. He has published one book, nine book chapters, and 60 peer-reviewed articles. His research has influenced changes to the FDA Food Code and has sparked a revolution in packaging leak detection. He has trained and mentored numerous students and regulatory personnel who now have notable careers in food safety and food packaging.

Ronald Pegg, PhD

Ronald Pegg is a Josiah Meigs distinguished teaching professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. He has been studying various aspects of foods for health. Principally, he has been investigating the nutrients and bioactive compounds of U.S. commodities. His research has mainly centered on isolating and characterizing phenolic constituents by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography techniques and then examining their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-glycation activities using in vitro assays, cell culture studies, and animal models. His antioxidant research is leading to a better understanding of the multifaceted role of phenolics at ameliorating deleterious responses in biological systems. Pegg is a frequent speaker at international, national, and regional scientific meetings, and his many activities encompass memberships in a number of professional societies. He is the author of 175 peer-reviewed research papers and book chapters and has delivered more than 260 presentations.

Kantha Shelke, PhD, CFS

Kantha Shelke is a principal at Corvus Blue LLC, a food science and research firm that specializes in expediting new product and technology development in food and nutrition and helping to create market demand with competitive intelligence and rapid commercialization. She practices and teaches food science and safety regulations in global food, ingredient,
and supplement supply chains. An IFT food science communicator, Shelke has written for Food Technology and other industry magazines (PLMA Live!, Prepared Foods) and teaches food safety regulations at Johns Hopkins University. She also serves as a member of the Faculty Advisory Board of Food and Agriculture at McGill University and as a member of the Faculty Advisory Board at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine. When not teaching or working with clients, she travels around the world, helping to advance the understanding of food and nutrition, food safety, and regulations with science and sensibility.

Cynthia Stewart, PhD, CFS

Cindy Stewart is the technology and innovation leader of Global Cultures, Food Enzymes & Food Protection for DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences. She strategically leads a global team in the discovery and R&D of novel starter cultures, food enzymes, and food protection ingredients to enhance fermentation processes and improve food product quality, food preservation, food safety, and sustainability. Prior to working with DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences, Stewart held leadership positions with PepsiCo, Silliker’s Food Science Center, the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, CSIRO’s Food Science Australia, and Nabisco. She is a member of the Tuskegee University Food and Nutritional Sciences Advisory Board and has served in numerous volunteer and elected positions with IFT for more than 25 years, including serving as 78th president of IFT.

Stewart’s expertise as a food scientist is recognized globally as she has published and presented more than 135 papers and book chapters. She holds BS and MS degrees in food science from the University of Delaware and a PhD from Rutgers University. In 2016, she received the University of Delaware College of Agricultural & Natural Resources Distinguished Alumni Award. She received the Nonthermal Processing Division Outstanding Member Award in 2008.

Hang Xiao, PhD

Hang Xiao is a professor of food science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is an expert on the health-promoting effects and molecular mechanisms of food and food components. His long-term research goal is to develop food-based strategies for the prevention of major chronic diseases in humans. Xiao has received numerous national and international awards for his pioneering research work.