Food Science Department plans tribute to Ferg Clydesdale
A celebration of the career of Distinguished Professor of Food Science Fergus M. Clydedale, who headed the department for 19 years until his retirement in June, is being held Friday, Oct. 3 in the Lincoln Campus Center as part of the Food Science Department’s Alumni Weekend.
The event includes a symposium, “Wellness, Health, and Food: Advancing Science, Policy, and Communications,” with presentations by speakers from PepsiCo, MasterFoods USA, International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) and the Ohio State University Center for Food Safety and AgSecurity.
The program will be followed by a reception and dinner.
For many years, Clydesdale and the Food Science Department have been virtually synonymous. A 1966 doctoral graduate of the department, he joined the faculty a year later and was awarded tenure in 1972. He was promoted to full professor in 1976 and became department head in 1989. In 2003, he was appointed a Distinguished Professor.
Under Clydesdale’s leadership, the department created a Strategic Research Alliance with about 20 industry partners and raised more than $4.5 million in private support. In 1998, the department was designated a center of excellence by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. He still serves as director of the research alliance and also leads the department’s Food Science Policy Alliance, which provides a scholarly venue for objective evaluation of science-based food policies and regulatory issues for students, consumers, government and industry.
Last year, the Food Science Department was ranked third nationally with the University of Wisconsin, Madison in a study of faculty scholarly productivity conducted by Academic Analytics and published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2006, Science Watch, an independent newsletter tracing trends and performances in basic research, ranked the campus seventh in the world in agricultural research based on work done by the Food Science Department.
During his career, Clydesdale has been involved with establishing scientifically-based food regulations and policy to increase public confidence in the food supply and establish guidelines that can easily be understood and evaluated. In addition, his research interests cover a spectrum of technological innovations to optimize physiological, functional, sensory and bioactive properties of food.
Clydesdale has published more than 375 scientific articles, co-authored or edited 20 books, and is the editor of the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.He is a fellow of the American College of Nutrition, the International Academy of Food Science and Technology, and the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), as well as a national associate of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
An internationally recognized expert in his field, Clydesdale serves on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Food Medicine. He also chairs the board of trustees of the International Life Sciences Institute of North America. He is a member of the IFT’s Chief Research Officer’s Food Council.
Clydesdale chaired the Food Forum of the Food and Nutrition Board of the NAS for three terms and served on the NAS Institute of Medicine Committee on the Use of Dietary Reference Intakes in Nutrition Labeling, the NAS Food Safety Oversight Commission, and IFT Expert Committee on Functional Foods, which he also chaired. He is also a past president of Phi Tau Sigma, the national food science honor society. In 1974, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.
Clydesdale has also attracted a range of honors for his own research and expertise in the field. This summer, he was awarded the Sterling B. Hendricks Memorial lectureship by the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He has also received five of the IFT’s top honors: the William V. Cruess Award for Excellence in Teaching; the Babcock Hart Award for research contributions to food technology that have resulted in improved public health through nutrition; the Donald K. Tressler Award for outstanding contributions to food science and technology and their communication to scientific peers and the public; the Nicholas Appert Award for preeminence in and contributions to the field of food technology; and the Carl R. Fellers Award for bringing honor and recognition to the profession of food science.
Clydesdale was also awarded the Charles A. Black award for scientific accomplishment and communication from the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology.
Clydesdale has also been a distinguished lecturer, visiting professor or visiting scientist at South Dakota State University, Michigan State University, University of California, Davis, and the Tokyo University of Fisheries. He is currently an adjunct professor at the Université Laval in Quebec.
He is an honorary member of L’Association Internationale Nicolas Appert and an honorary fellow of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Clydesdale also belongs to the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the International Association for Food Protection.
His campus honors include the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Alumni Association. In 2001, the F.M. Clydesdale Professorship was endowed with funds contributed by Food Science alumni and friends of the department.
More Information
Event details and registration
September 24, 2008.
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