From Tomato King to World Food Prize Laureate

Abstract

This autobiographical article describes my early years, education, and career at Purdue University. Helping form and expand the Department of Food Science at Purdue was exciting and gratifying, and working with students in the classroom and on research projects was rewarding and kept me feeling young. My research on bulk aseptic processing allowed me to help solve problems relevant to the tomato industry, but I learned later that it had much broader relevance. I certainly never expected the impact and visibility of the work to result in my being awarded the World Food Prize. Being the first food scientist to win this award has enabled me to focus increased attention on the need to reduce food losses.