FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sealed Air Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of a wide range of food and protective packaging materials and systems, has made a gift valued at $75,000 to the University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and the Division of Agriculture. Executives from the Cryovac Food Packaging Division of Sealed Air were on-hand during a check presentation held in Bumpers College today.

The company will provide a Ross Jr. tray lidding machine to the food science department in Bumpers College valued at approximately $35,000, which includes the machine’s installation, transportation, support and training. They will also present a check for $40,000, which will be matched by funds in the Matching Gift Program, to create an $80,000 Honors Academy Scholarship endowment.

“The generous donation by Sealed Air of the Ross Jr. Tray Lidding packaging equipment to the department of food science will substantially strengthen food science and technology research, educational and service capabilities at the University of Arkansas,” said Ron Buescher, food science department head. “This equipment offers new opportunities for multi-disciplinary research projects on fresh and processed foods involving several areas of food science such as food quality, safety, chemistry and physical properties and new product development in addition to studies on packaging materials and modified atmospheric packaging. 

“Food packaging is essential for maintaining appearance and sensory qualities, safety and nutrition during marketing and through this donation capabilities are now available to address research problems associated with packaging that are important for advancement of the food industry and for the benefit of consumers,” Buescher said.

“The advancement in the interactions between packaging materials and the food that is being packaged continues to expand at a rapid pace,” according to Jim Belcher, Director of Applications, Development and Support for the Cryovac Food Packaging Division of Sealed Air.  “We hope this donation of a state of the art packaging system to the University of Arkansas will help them in their pursuit of new solutions in the area of food preservation.”

This gift was committed during the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, which recorded $1.046 billion in gifts and pledges designated toward student and faculty endowments, academic programs, capital improvements and University Libraries when it concluded June 30, 2005.