University of Missouri Dean Takes Over as President of IFT

Sept. 6, 2024

Christopher Daubert became 85th president of the Institute of Food Technologists.

Christopher Daubert, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, on Sept. 1 took over as president of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). He will be the 85th president of the food science organization.

A lifelong academic, he earlier spent more than two decades at North Carolina State University and has a degree in agricultural engineering from Pennsylvania State University and his PhD in agricultural engineering and food science from Michigan State University. Daubert is an IFT fellow and previously served as chair of the Food Engineering division.

Meanwhile, Bigelow Tea Vice President Peggy Poole has assumed the role of president-elect, meaning she will become IFT president on Sept. 1, 2025. Poole has over 40 years of experience in the food industry with companies such as Leprino Foods, HP Hood LLC, Kraft Foods, and Häagen-Dazs.

Sean Leighton, global vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory at Cargill, completed his one-year term on Aug. 31.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.