On Mar. 13, Tara McHugh from Western Regional Research Center, United Department of Agriculture Research Service, was appointed part-time professor of Jiangsu University. Ma Haile, Dean of School of Food and Biological Engineering, and some faculty members and students of the school attended the ceremony. At the ceremony, Shi Weidong, the vice President, granted Dr. McHugh a letter of appointment, pinned a Jiangsu University emblem for her. Dean Ma Haile made a brief introduction of Dr. McHugh’s Curriculum Vitae and major academic achievements. After the ceremony, Dr. McHugh made a lecture entitled Innovative Food Processing for Improved Health, Safety and Sustainability.
Dr. McHugh is currently the Research Leader of the Processed Foods Research Unit at the USDA, where she oversees the unit’s research program on enhancing the marketability and healthfulness of specialty crops and their byproducts. Her team has developed and applied a variety of new technologies to enhance the healthfulness, safety and sustainability of foods.
Dr. McHugh holds a B.S. in Food Science from Cornell and a Ph.D. from UC Davis in Food Science. She has more than 22 years of experience in food processing, chemistry, and engineering research. During this period, she has authored or co-authored over 70 peer reviewed publications and 7 patents, three of which have been licensed. Three of the innovative processing technologies she has developed have been commercialized during the past six years, two of which have created new small businesses in rural areas. She has also been the leader on 16 high-impact Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with external cooperators and numerous grants from other federal agencies.
Dr. McHugh has also received numerous awards for her innovative research program, some of which include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, two USDA Secretary Honors Awards for Superior Service, the Federal Laboratories Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer and the Popular Science Best of What’s New Award. Her research has been the topic of an overwhelming number of popular press stories including the front page of the Wall Street Journal, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, The Osgood Files and over 130 other national and international magazine, radio and television broadcasts.
(School of Food and Biological Engineering)
