IDFA recently recognized two university professors for excellence in dairy processing research and teaching in dairy manufacturing. Paul Kindstedt, Ph.D., professor of food science at the University of Vermont, received the 2018 IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing. Sanjeev Anand, Ph.D., professor in the Dairy and Food Science Department at South Dakota State University, earned the 2018 IDFA Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing.

The awards were presented last month during the American Dairy Science Association’s annual meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee.

IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing

The IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing recognizes individuals whose research findings have allowed dairy foods processors to develop new products and significantly improve the quality, safety or processing efficiency of dairy foods.

As a professor at the University of Vermont, Kindstedt has made significant contributions to the dairy foods industry over the past 32 years. His most recent work includes novel applications of X-ray diffractometry and polarized light microscopy to identify cheese crystals and illuminate their complex roles in the development of cheese texture and other sensory attributes. His work has allowed dairy processors to improve the control of texture development in soft-surface ripened cheeses.

Kindstedt received his bachelor’s degree in dairy technology and master’s degree in animal sciences from the University of Vermont and his doctorate in food science from Cornell University.

IDFA Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing

The IDFA Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing recognizes outstanding teaching of undergraduate students in dairy foods.

Anand is a dairy science professional with 34 years of teaching and research experience in the microbiological quality and safety of dairy foods. For more than a decade, Anand has taught undergraduate and graduate students at South Dakota State University, offering courses in dairy and food microbiology that cover critical aspects of dairy manufacturing. He has trained and advised many undergraduate and graduate students, and several are now working as dairy professionals.

Anand received a bachelor’s degree in biological science from Kurukshetra University, India, and earned a master’s degree in dairy bacteriology and a doctorate degree in dairy microbiology from the National Dairy Research Institute in India.

For more information, contact Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, at cfrye@idfa.org.