Getting to know Witoon Prinyawiwatkul; Remembering Ed Hirschber
IFT WORLD
Remembering Ed Hirschberg
Ed Hirschberg passed away on January 9, at the age of 96. A member of IFT for over 50 years, he was the recipient of IFT’s 2016 Babcock-Hart Award for his numerous contributions to food processing, especially his innovations in freeze-drying and dehydration of fruits and vegetables, which led to increased consumption of them around the world.
A leader and creative pioneer in the food industry, Hirschberg filed more than 15 patent applications; invented more than 50 novel, healthy food products; and tested, invented, and perfected new processes, as well as designed and built new machines to perform them.
In 1963, he launched E. Hirschberg Freeze Drying, later incorporating the business into Innovative Foods, Inc., with the dual focus of producing freeze-dried ingredients as well as cutting-edge R&D in the field of dehydration. Hirschberg also invented many products and processes for the U.S. military and most major dried soup and snack companies worldwide.
In his book, A Food Designing Life, released in 2018, he took a look back at more than 60 years in the field of food science, recalling his search for “an industry worthy of my industry,” and recounting the lessons he learned along the way about the value of perseverance, collaboration, imagination, resilience, integrity, and more.
IFT also notes the passing of the following members: Dennis Lee Grubel, Tom Imbordino, Thomas E. Luallen, Toni Ruth Manning, and Mark J. Moisey.
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Getting to know Witoon Prinyawiwatkul
Each month, we meet one of IFT’s valued volunteers.
The importance of giving back to society has been a guiding principle in Witoon Prinyawiwatkul’s life and career, one he has passed along to the many undergraduate and graduate students he has taught at Louisiana State University since 1996.
Currently the Horace J. Davis endowed Professor, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, at LSU and the LSU Agricultural Center, Prinyawiwatkul has a long history of volunteering with IFT. He has s…
Each month, we meet one of IFT’s valued volunteers.
The importance of giving back to society has been a guiding principle in Witoon Prinyawiwatkul’s life and career, one he has passed along to the many undergraduate and graduate students he has taught at Louisiana State University since 1996.
Currently the Horace J. Davis endowed Professor, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, at LSU and the LSU Agricultural Center, Prinyawiwatkul has a long history of volunteering with IFT. He has served in numerous roles, among them section and division chair, Achievement Award juror, co-chair of the Scientific Sessions Com-mittee for the annual event, and, currently, associate editor for Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (CRFS) and the Journal of Food Science (JFS).
Looking back on his volunteer activities, Prinyawiwatkul cites his work as an IFT award juror as particularly rewarding. “I am part of the selection process to make sure those individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of food science and technology and selflessly dedicated to IFT are recognized,” he says. He also finds the work he does as associate editor for CRFS and JFS meaningful. “Our editorial team is passionate to publish high-quality manuscripts that help advance the science of food across the globe,” he adds.
When it comes to personal values, Prinyawiwatkul feels that IFT’s core value of Community has been critical for his success. “Collaboration and teamwork are keys to broaden research and teaching horizons. I have collaborated with fellow researchers, including my former students, from many countries, including Thailand, China, and Mexico, just to name a few.”
An important part of every community is mentorship, which has been a central focus of his teaching practice at LSU. “Working closely with and mentoring my graduate students gives me a great purpose and energy to come to work daily,” he says. “Training them to be ready to get out to the real world and to become successful professionally gives me the utmost pleasure as an educator.”
In evaluating the challenges that lie ahead for the food chain system, it’s no surprise that Prinyawiwatkul sees collaboration as one of the keys to success. “The COVID-19 pandemic…is posing a challenge for the food sector to provide sufficient, healthy, and affordable food for everyone. Avail-ability of wholesome food is expected to directly impact consumers’ health and immune systems. Looking at a broad picture, we, as a food science community, must work together to address the resilience of the food supply chains in response to this current COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics as well as catastrophic events.”
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