Leadership

It is truly and honor and privilege to serve as Phi Tau Sigma President as the Society enters its 70th year as THE Honor Society for Food Science Technology.  Our Society would not be the success it is today without the dedication of many volunteers who spend countless hours serving on Society committees and as Society Board of Directors, recruiting new members, developing and sponsoring awards and scholarships, and creating value-added programs and events for our members.  I would like to personally thank my colleagues who served chairs of standing committees over the past year: Dr. Lili He, Awards; Dr. Terri Boylston, Chapter Affairs; Dr. Rick Falkenberg, Constitution and Bylaws; Dr. Kantha Shelke, Finance; Dr. Elizabeth Grasso-Kelley, Membership and Qualifications; Dr. Kathy Kotula, Communications; Dr. Adam Baker, Development; Dr. Liz Boyle, Nominations and Elections.  Thanks to everyone who served on ad hoc Committees: Dr. Denny Heldman, Audit; Dr. Kantha Shelke, Strategic Relations, Internship Organization Committee; Halek Mehta, M.S. (Ph.D. student), Student Relations; Dr. Kathiravan Krishnamurthy, Website/Wikipedia; Dr. Navam Hettiarachchy, Membership Recruitment and Retention; and Dr. Liz Boyle, Future Directions.  A special note of thanks goes out Kantha Shelke, Treasurer, who spends considerable efforts in ensuring that the Society finances are in order, and to Dr. Daryl Lund for his work as Assistant Treasurer and as Phi Tau Sigma Liaison to IFT.  A special note of appreciation goes to Dr. Rodrigo Tarté for his exceptional leadership as President of Phi Tau Sigma and for serving to mentor me during my time as President-Elect.  Finally, I would like to provide my sincerest thanks to Dr. Kathy Kotula, for her hard work and exceptional efforts as Executive Director of Phi Tau Sigma and as Society Newsletter Editor.  

The past year was an exceptional one for Phi Tau Sigma.  We had several well-attended student events:  the 2022 Speedy Science held virtually on March 22, 2022, and the Phi Tau Sigma Lightening Talks, held virtually on February 10 and June 9, 2022.  Many thanks to the University of Minnesota Chapter of Phi Tau Sigma and the Student Relations Committee for sponsoring these opportunities for students to present their research to colleagues.  In 2022, the Catherine Adams Hutt, Ph.D., R.D. and Peter Barton Hutt, LL.B., LL.M. Food Regulation Scholarship of Phi Tau Sigma, was created and awarded for the first time.  This new scholarship is awarded to a student Member of Phi Tau Sigma who has shown exceptional scholastic achievement, a dedication to Phi Tau Sigma, and a strong documentable interest in food regulation.  We also had an outstanding and well-attended virtual awards ceremony on July 7, 2022, that recognized all Phi Tau Sigma awards and scholarship recipients.  I’d like to congratulate the members of the Awards Committee, led by Chair Dr. Lili He, and members of the Program especially Dr. Anna Hayes, Yiwen Li (Ph.D. candidate) and Dr. Kaavya Rathnakumar, for putting this excellent program together.  We also had an outstanding Networking Dinner (sponsored by Hawkins, Inc.) on July 12, 2022, that provided opportunity for our members to get together and “catch up”.

I look forward to working with you during my term as President of Phi Tau Sigma.  This is a great time to become more involved in our Society, promote our Society to potential new members, and to develop new initiatives aimed at advancing membership value.   Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any suggestions or ideas for advancing Phi Tau Sigma.