Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition Funding Priorities

Endowed Chair in Food Safety and Biosecurity: (naming opportunity) (jointly with Agricultural Engineering and Packaging) An endowed chair in Food Safety and Biosecurity will bring new and expanded expertise in issues related to a safe and secure food supply that will significantly enhance the teaching, research and outreach programs in food safety and biosecurity at MSU. This multi-disciplinary position will interface with the Departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural Engineering and Packaging. The science, engineering and technology focus of this position will be in aligned with the mission of the National Food Science and Toxicology Center. The tenure home of this position will be negotiated based on the background and interests of the candidate and the needs of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The incumbent to this position will be abreast of current food safety and biosecurity concerns and provide leadership in coordination of program activities. This position will also greatly enhance the recruitment and retention of graduate students and scholars in food safety and biosecurity programs. An Endowed Chair in Food Safety and Biosecurity will work across departments and colleges to expand MSU's capacity in these areas.

Endowed Graduate Fellowships: This is a vital need in the area of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Graduate students often require a year or more of classroom learning and exposure to research methodology before they are prepared to contribute substantially to a research project. This support would greatly enhance the research and graduate education programs by providing flexibility for students to conduct pilot studies to better position themselves and the faculty to compete for external sources of funds and expand current research efforts. Fellowship funding would enable the recruitment and retention of top students and would maximize opportunities for students and faculty mentors to further linkages with cooperative units, centers and departments to enrich the educational experiences of the students.

Research Endowment: This initiative will focus on providing a mechanism for faculty to conduct leading-edge research that will be beneficial to industry and consumers. These research endowments could provide research assistantships for undergraduate student training and mentoring opportunities in laboratory, research methodologies and data analysis techniques.

Delivery Vehicle for Dairy Program: A delivery vehicle would enable expansion of the dairy operations by allowing product offerings to be distributed to campus in addition to the dairy store outlet. The resulting increase in product volume will also provide experience in large-scale processing techniques of dairy products. Additional learning opportunities will exist in the marketing and the demonstration of proper handling methods of dairy foods.