Alumni Tell Stories, Founding of Food Science Department Recounted to Mark Anniversary

Micayla Scott

Food science alumni returned to campus to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of their department.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Department of Food Science marked its 50-year anniversary on Oct. 18, and part of the celebration included stories from alumni and session on the history of the department.

The celebration was held at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences, just north of the main campus at the Arkansas Agricultural Research Station. The department, part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, was founded in 1968 and has produced high-quality graduates since its creation.

Alumni members from around the nation were present, and shared stories and memories of their time in the department, and how it prepared them for professional careers in the industry and beyond.

"My mom was pregnant with me when she started coming to the department and my dad was involved in the food industry," said Patti Wiese Lehigh as she discussed how her experience prepared her for the future. "I don't remember not being here. This was a great basis."

Other alumni speakers for the celebration included Brian Davis, vice president for research and development at Simmons Foods, and Don McCaskill, product developer at Riceland Foods, who has been affiliated with the department for over 49 years.

Phil Crandall, professor of retail food safety, shared the history of the department, including information about its first head and founder, Ahmed A. Kattan.

Kattan was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1925 and joined the University of Arkansas Department of Horticulture in 1955. He was at the Washington County Fair in 1957 when he approached John White, vice president for agriculture in the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, and Kattan shared his vision for a food science department.

Kattan designed a new physiology and food processing laboratory that same year and worked on the curriculum for the new program for many years to come.

Finally, after 11 years, the Department of Horticultural Food Science — later known as the Department of Food Science — was born in 1968 and Kattan would serve as head for the next 20 years until his retirement in 1988.

Kattan has since passed, but the impact and influence he had through research and development in the food science industry and the department will be remembered for generations to come.

"Today, we're in the top five food science departments in the nation in publications and professionals," said Crandall.

Crandall placed importance on the industry and its future. "The food science department must preserve to help combat food insecurity, promote healthy living, and meet food production and processing needs for a growing world."

Fundraising opportunities also took place by silent auction and donations. The funds will be used to create scholarships for students in the department and prospective students.

Crandall noted undergraduate growth has slowed recently, but the department hopes to begin providing more funds for current and incoming students, and attracting more students in the process.

Street foods, specifically Vietnamese lemongrass pork and vermicelli, were prepared by Tyson Foods Inc. chefs and served to attendees. The chefs discussed the global trends of street foods as well as the preparation of the meal and answered questions from the audience about the topics discussed in their presentation.

Some of the chefs are University of Arkansas graduates and discussed how the department prepared them for careers at Tyson.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.