Peggy Poole Named President of Institute of Food Technologists
Peggy Poole became the 86th president of Chicago-based Institute of Food Technologists, one of the leading food science associations in the world. And Gunnar Sigge was named president-elect, meaning he’ll take over this time in 2026.
Poole has more than four decades of experience across the global food industry. She’s worked in R&D, regulatory affairs and quality assurance Kraft Foods, Häagen-Dazs, Leprino Foods and Bigelow Tea Co. She replaces Christopher Daubert, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Poole serves as a member of the external advisory boards for Rutgers University and the University of Massachusetts Dept. of Food Science. She has served on the Penn State Creamery Advisory Board, was a member of the Biosecurity Task Force for the International Dairy Foods Assn. and was a founding member of the Food Safety Operating Committee at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.
Sigge currently is an associate professor and head of the Dept. of Food Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, where he was integral to the establishment of the university’s master’s in food and nutrition security program.
PHOTO AT TOP: Peggy Poole left, Gunnar Sigge right.
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.