Food scientist Ronald Pegg loves to see the light switch on in his students
By Sage Barnard
Whether food scientist Ronald Pegg is chasing coffee “from bean to cup” in Costa Rica or pinpointing the phenolic antioxidant constituents in Georgia pecans, he has a passion for inspiring an investigative spirit in his students.
“I attempt to instill in my students the desire for lifelong learning and the realization that the knowledge base of their profession is not static, rather it is dynamic,” Pegg said. “I get no greater joy than when one of my students is conducting an experiment, and I all of a sudden see a light switch on.”
Pegg’s career has been defined by his enthusiasm toward his students and his unique teaching style. His main goal always has been to provide a balanced mix of engaging lectures and hands-on laboratory activities for his students to explore the concepts that are key to understanding the makeup of food and how its constituents can be analyzed.
As coach and mentor to the university’s Food Science College Bowl Team, Pegg works to advise students while they’re in Athens, and many students still seek his advice long after they have left the university.
This year, he was named a Josiah Meigs Teaching Professor. In recognition of his commitment, his students have voted him UGA Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty of the Year or Graduate Faculty of the Year six times. In 2013, Pegg won the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, becoming the first faculty member in his department to win the honor.
“For more than a decade, Dr. Pegg has been able to maintain the same enthusiasm for teaching that he had when he started at UGA,” said Josef Broder, CAES associate dean for academic affairs. “That excitement is contagious and inspires a sense of curiosity in his students that never really leaves them. His work is one reason why food science graduates from the University of Georgia are sought-after by industry leaders and research institutions the world over.”
Sage Barnard is a student writer for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension.
The career world is wide open for students at the University of Georgia, a life lesson third-year student Emily Harris learned as a food science major in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Harris plans to attend the UGA School of Law to pursue a degree in food regulation and law this fall, a unique path she discovered through classes in the Department of Food Science and Technology.
For Joseph McHugh, a career as an entomologist was never in question: He became fascinated by insects and their diversity in grade school and his passion never wavered. This year, his internationally recognized leadership in the field he loves was rewarded as he was named the Herbert H. and Jean A. Ross Memorial Distinguished Professor of Insect Systematics and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly established June 7 as World Food Safety Day to bring awareness of foodborne risks and “to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food.” With 25 faculty members involved in food safety microbiology, the University of Georgia has one of the largest teams of food safety researchers of any university. Their research and collaboration efforts contribute to a growing body of knowledge that ensures producers and consumers have the latest information about food safety.
With a climbing global population that continues to grow since surpassing 8 billion in 2022, steadily rising food prices, changing consumer preferences and growing interest in more sustainable production methods, the challenges to the world’s food systems continue to intensify. World-renowned food processing and engineering faculty in the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology are training and inspiring the next generation of food scientists to blaze trails in their research and answer the questions the future of food will bring.
The University of Georgia is launching the Value-Addition Institute for Business Expansion, or VIBE, a new center for rural food business assistance and resources headed by professors from the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Nutritional Sciences in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. VIBE is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Innovation Center.
The interdisciplinary Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty, launched by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost S. Jack Hu and Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Jennifer Frum, brings together academic faculty and public service faculty. This partnership expands the impact of UGA’s research and ties it to practical applications in rural communities across Georgia.