Matthew Moore, associate professor of food science, has been named the first Eric A. Decker Food Science Scholar, a five-year appointment supported by an endowed fund created both to honor UMass Amherst Professor of Food Science Eric Decker and help leading food scientists advance their research.
The UMass Amherst Food Science Advisory Board recommended the establishment of the Eric Decker Food Science Scholar Fund to honor Decker “for his strategic leadership as [a former] department head and his contributions to the body of food technology knowledge through his excellent research,” says board chair Linda Letcher, a food scientist who earned her master’s degree at UMass Amherst and spent more than 36 years in research and development at Kraft Foods/Mondelez International.
“It is wonderful to see the scholar go to Matt Moore. Matt is a global expert on food safety and his outstanding research will help make our food supply safer,” says Decker, who, like department colleagues Hang Xiao and David Julian McClements, is among the world’s Most Highly Cited Scientists in Agriculture. With his research focused on lipid chemistry and foods, Decker has served over the years on committees of the FDA, National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Food Technology, USDA and American Oil Chemist Society, and has received the field’s top awards nationally and internationally.