Ricke Named Visiting Professor at Kyung Hee University in South Korea

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From left, Si Hong Park of the UA Center for Food Safety staff; Hyun Jung Kim of Iowa State University; Steven C. Ricke, director of the UA Center for Food Safety, and Hae-Yeong Kim, director of the Kyung Hee University Institute of Life Sciences and Resources.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Steven C. Ricke, director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center for Food Safety, has been named a visiting professor (international scholar) at Kyung Hee University in Suwon, South Korea. Ricke, who also holds the Donald (Buddy) Wray Chair in Food Safety, is a professor in the UA Department of Food Science.

The institute at Kyung Hee University has established its own food safety research center that is staffed with Korean scientists. Institute director Hae-Yeong Kim is seeking to establish connections with international scientists who can work as partners on certain research projects related to food safety such as foodborne pathogens and genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Ricke will be in residence on the Kyung Hee University campus Aug. 18-31. He will deliver several lectures associated with current food safety issues to graduate students and Korean government institutes as well as participate in research at Kim's laboratory at the university's Institute of Life Sciences and Resources.

"I am looking forward to this unique opportunity to explore food safety and foodborne pathogen issues that are of mutual interest between our two institutions," Ricke said. "This appointment represents a unique opportunity to develop research strategies that will universally benefit food production systems on an international scale."

The UA Center for Food Safety has collaborated with Kyung Hee University in recent years to review areas of mutual interest. Si Hong Park, who is accompanying Ricke on this visit, earned a master's degree in food science and biotechnology under Kim at Kyung Hee University and is a currently staff researcher at the UA Center for Food Safety. He was a doctoral student in Cell and Molecular Biology program under Ricke.