Fred W Tanner Lectureship Award

The Chicago Section IFT established the Fred W. Tanner Lectureship in 1960 to advance the profession and practice of food science by bringing to the Section outstanding scientific persons, in this field or its related sciences, to speak on recent advances in the formulation, processing, preservation, packaging, distribution, preparation, nutritional quality, and enjoyment of food.

Fred Wilbur Tanner (1888-1957) was an American food scientist, microbiologist and professor at the University of Illinois who served in the founding of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and was the founder and one of the editors for the scientific journal Food Research, now called the Journal of Food Science.

Dr. Tanner served as IFT President 1945-46, was author of more than 150 publications in microbiology and public health, would win the Stephen M. Babcock Award (now called Babcock-Hart Award) and was posthumously awarded the Pasteur Award.

Nominate a Member

Nominations open in October-December of each year and the winner announced by March 1st.

If you know of someone who meets the requirements of a Tanner Lecturer, contact the Tanner Lecture Committee Chair listed on the Leadership Team page of the website.

Past Recipients

1963 B.S. Platt, Ph.D., M.B., Ch.B., Director of the Human Nutrition Research unit of the Medical Research Council, Mill Hill, London

1964 John M. Kuprianoff, Sc.D., Director, Federal Institute for Food Preservation, Karlsruhe, Germany

1965 Lloyd M. Beidler, Ph.D., Professor of Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

1966 S.M. Partridge, Ph.D., Head, Department of Protein Chemistry, Meat Research Institute, Cambridge, UK

1967 Fredrick J. Stare, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

1968 Fred S. Thatcher, Ph.D., Chief, Div. of Microbiology Research Laboratories, Food & Drug Directorate, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

1969 Emil M. Mrak, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of California, Davis, CA

1970 Morley R. Kare, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology and Director, Monell Chemical Senses Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

1971 James R. Vickery, Ph.D., Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Division of Food Preservation, Australia (Retired)

1972 E.M. Foster, Ph.D., Director, Professor of Bacteriology, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

1973 Calvin A. Lang, Sc.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Director, Biological Aging Program, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY

1974 Rose Marie Pangborn, M.S., Professor of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis, CA

1975 Jean Mayer, Ph.D., Sc.D., Professor of Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

1976 Steven R. Tannebaum, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

1977 Alexander M. Schmidt, M.D., Vice Chancellor for Health Services, University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago, IL

1978 Aaron M. Altschul, Ph.D. Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine and Internal Health, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

1979 Thomas H. Jukes, Ph.D., Professor, Medical Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA

1980 Sylvan H. Wittwer, Ph.D., Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

1981 L.J. Filer, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA

1982 Walter Mertz, M.D. Director of Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD

1983 David Kritchevsky, Ph.D., Associate Director, Philadelphia, PA

1984 David A. McCarron, M.D.,
Director,
Director, Hypertension Program, The Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR

1985 Fergus M. Clydesdale, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

1986 Michael P. Doyle, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

1987 Richard L. Hall, Ph.D.,
Vice President of Science and Technology, McCormick & Co., Inc. Hunt Valley, MD

1988 Douglas L. Archer, Ph.D.,
Director, Division of Microbiology, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Washington D.C.

1989 Gilbert Leveille, Ph.D.,
Vice President, Research and Technology, Nabisco Brands, Inc., East Hanover, NJ

1990 Alina S. Szczesniak, Sc.D.,
former Principle Scientist, General Foods Corporation

1991 John E. Kinsella, Ph.D.,
Dean of the College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA

1992 Marcus Karel, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey

1993 Susan Schiffman, Ph.D.,
Professor of Medical Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC

1994 Roy L. Whistler, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Hillenbrand Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry Emeritus, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

1995 Owen Fennema, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

1996 Robert T. Fraley, Ph.D.,
President, Ceregen Unit of the Monsanto Company

1997 Alan W. Holmes, Ph.D., O.B.E.
former Director of British Food Manufacturing Industries Research Association at Leatherhead

1998 Arthur J. Morgan, Jr., Ph.D.,
U.S. Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center

1999 Philip Nelson, Ph.D.,
Director of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

2000 Gary K. Beauchamp, Ph.D.,
Director, Monell Chemical Senses Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

2001 Milos Kalab, Ph.D., Ph.D.,
Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

2002 Samuel Palumbo, Ph.D.,
Research Microbiologist, USDA, Eastern Regional Research Center, MD and PA

2003 Terry E. Acree, Ph.D.,
Professor of Biochemistry, Cornell University, Geneva, NY

2004 Louise Slade, Ph.D., and Harry Levine, Ph.D.,
Kraft Foods Fellows, Kraft Foods, East Hanover, NJ

2005 Donald B. Thompson, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

2006 Beverley J. Kroll
CEO, Peryam & Kroll Research Corporation, Chicago, IL

2007 Theodore P. Labuza, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

2008 Todd R. Klaenhammer, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science, Microbiology and Genetics, NC State University, Raleigh, NC

2009 Larry R. Beuchat, Ph.D.,
Professor, Center for Food Safety, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA

2010 Steven J. Schwartz, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Science & Technology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

2011 Gary R. List, ScD., G.R.
List Consulting, President, Washington, IL

2012 Richard W. Hartel, Ph.D.,
Professor of Food Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

2013 Connie Weaver, Ph.D.,
Distinguished Professor and Department Head, Nutrition Science, Purdue University, W Lafayette, IN

2014 John W. Erdman, Jr., Ph.D.,
Professor Emeritus, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL

2015 Gary Reineccius, Ph.D.,
Professor and past Department Head in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

2016 Peter Schieberle, Ph.D.,
Professor at the Technical University of Munich and Chair for Food Chemistry in the Chemistry Department. Director of the German Research Center for Chemistry and Director of the Hans-Dieter-Belitz Institute for Cereal and Protein Research. Munich, Germany.

2017 Steve Taylor, Ph.D.,
Professor and Co-Director – Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at the University of Nebraska

2018 Purnendu C. Vasavada, Ph.D.,
Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Food Science and Dairy Manufacturing.

2019 Dennis R. Heldman,
2018 Nicholas Appert Prize Recipient and Dale A Seiberling Endowed Professor of Food Engineering

2020 John W Spink, PH.D.,
Director, Food Fraud Initiative & Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management, Eli Broad Business College, Michigan State University,

2021 Soo-Yeun Lee, PhD.,

Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois

2022 Kantha Shelke, PhD.,

Sr. Lecturer, Food Safety Regulations, Johns Hopkins University

2023 Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, Ph.D.,

Professor of Food Science, University of Illinois

2024 Frank Yiannas

Founder, Smarter FY Solutions, Former Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations

2025 V.M. Balasubramaniam, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Engineering, Ohio State University