Macy Award

Macy Award Committee

The Macy Food Science & Technology Award, “Macy Award,” was established in 1981, and is given annually to recognize an outstanding example of food technology transfer or cooperation between scientists or technologists in any of the following settings: academic, government, and private industry. The purpose of the award is to advance the profession and practice of food technology and to honor Dr. Harold Macy, Dean Emeritus of the University of Minnesota and Founding Member of IFT. The award consists of a plaque, $2500 honorarium, and travel expenses. The award recipient is invited to address the Minnesota Section at the annual Macy Award meeting held in Minneapolis.

Experienced, dynamic leader in start-up, middle market and large company settings across food, nutrition, pharma, food safety, biotechnology, agriculture and specialty chemicals. Steve is currently the CEO of Schuman Cheese, a 4th generation specialty cheese maker, importer and processor. He most recently was the President and CEO of private equity owned Whitehall Specialties processed cheese manufacturer, and founder of its newly created NewFields™ plant-based cheese division. He is founder and CEO of Third Meadow Consulting, a corporate growth consultancy and serves on the advisory board for Demand Chain, a Salesforce™ CRM software implementation company in Minneapolis.

He served as President and COO of public food safety and testing company Neogen and of early- stage pharmaceutical company St. Renatus. He held several leadership roles at Cargill where he led the launch of Truvia™ brand natural sweetener (the first natural, zero calorie, high-intensity sweetener) and Corowise™ Naturally Sourced Cholesterol Reducer™ ingredient featured in Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid HeartWise™ orange juice and Wyeth’s Centrum Cardio™ multivitamin. He also led the innovation for re-purposed oil seed products into sustainable industrial applications in Cargill’s Industrial Specialties business.

He was a founding member of management team for Senomyx, a biotech flavor discovery company, co- founded by Nobel laureate Dr. Roger Tsein and National Medal of Science winner and Stanford professor and textbook author Dr. Lubert Stryer. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Boston based ag-biotech company IngredientWerks who is focused on alternative protein production in plants. Previously he also held several leadership positions at Monsanto, including director of commercial development at NutraSweet Kelco where he launched new fermentation derived food ingredients including Omega-3 oils and specialty cellulose food texturizing ingredient.

He has served on several boards of directors, including board chair for Life Science Alley in Minneapolis, MN, the U of MN Food Science & Nutrition Advisory Board and Venture Center Business Advisory Group, the U of St. Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship Advisory Board member and currently serves on the Advisory Board for GenoPalate, genomics based personalized nutrition company.

He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Chemistry from Phillips University.

View Macy Award Brochure

About Macy Award

The Harold Macy Food Science and Technology Award was established by the MN Section of the Institute of Food Technologists in 1981. In the words of the bylaw adopted to formally establish the Award, its purpose "shall be to advance the profession and practice of food technology and to honor Dean Emeritus Harold Macy by the selection each year of an outstanding example of food technology transfer or cooperation between scientists or technologists in any two of the following settings:

  • Academic
  • Government
  • Private industry

by the preparation of appropriate descriptive material describing the accomplishments involved, and inviting of the individual awardee or awardees to address the annual Award meeting of the Section."

Harold Macy, emeritus charter professional member of IFT and former dean of the Institute of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota, died in 1986 at the age of 91. Dean Harold Macy, "Jo" to those who knew him, had a long and illustrious career in the food industry. His first and most extensive association focused on interests in dairy science, and his professional activity in dairy husbandry, processing and bacteriology, and later in food technology, spanned over 50 years. Jo Macy was involved in formulations and writing of some of the first public health regulations for milk and other dairy products, to assure their safety and wholesomeness. Among his most notable achievements in technology transfer was the establishment in 1936 of the Dairy Quality Control Institute (DQCI). For many years, DQCI oversaw on a cooperative basis, the quality of milk marketed in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, and included an analytical laboratory that was highly respected on a national basis. He was also involved in the original founding of the American Dairy Association and the Dairy Council, which was in Macy's words "one of the dairy industry's most precious accomplishments."

Macy's academic career began in 1919 as an assistant professor of dairy bacteriology at the University of Minnesota. In the succeeding 44 years, he moved up through the ranks and completed his campus tenure as dean of what was then the Institute of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics. It is thus entirely fitting that a Minnesota IFT Section award emphasizing technology transfer among academia, government, and private industry should honor the name of Harold Macy.

Past Macy Award Recipients

2023 - Steve Snyder

2022 Purnendu C. Vasavada

2021 - Donald W. Schaffner

2020 Award Not Given

2019 - Gary Reineccius

2018 - Kathryn J. Boor

2017 - Dennis Heldman

2016 - Tara McHugh

2015 - Martin Wiedmann

2014 - Ken Lee

2013 - Theodore P. Labuza

2012 - Award Not Given

2011 - Jae W. Park

2010 - Kevin M. Keener

2009 - Richard W. Hartel

2008 - Donald Kramer

2007 - John Surak

2006 - Gary List

2005 - David B. Min

2004 - Richard Linton

2003 - Robert J. Price

2002 - Stephen L. Taylor

2001 - Jozef Kokini

2000 - Keith Ito

1999 - W. James Harper

1998 - Richard Lechowich

1997 - Daniel Y.C. Fung

1996 - Elaine R. Wedral

1995 - James N. BeMiller

1994 - Kenneth R. Swartzel

1993 - George E. Inglett

1992 - Peter Barton Hutt

1991 - John J. Powers

1990 - Arnold E. Denton

1989 - Rose Marie Pangborn

1988 - Philip E. Nelson

1987 - Howard E. Bauman

1986 - Norman F. Olson

1985 - Joseph C. Olson, Jr.

1984 - Robert Pearl

1983 - Gary H. Richardson

1982 - E.M. "Mike" Foster

1981 - Harold Macy