UT Food Science Professor Receives National Honor
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Qixin Zhong, professor in the University of Tennessee Department of Food Science, has been named an Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Fellow.
The honor was bestowed as a result of Zhong’s years of contribution to food science and to IFT through his scientific, engineering and leadership efforts. In his research enhancing food quality, safety and healthfulness, Zhong creates multilength scale structures to improve the function of food ingredients. His cutting-edge innovations and research developments have impacted countless producers and consumers.
Zhong says he is honored to be named a Fellow, and that he hopes his ongoing work will continue to ensure quality foods are available for people everywhere to enjoy. “Food science plays an important role in our daily lives, as we all rely on food producers and distributors around the world who supply us with healthy foods. I am proud to be a part of a scientific discipline that impacts people in such a profound way, and I am beyond honored to be named an Institute of Food Technologists Fellow.”
IFT selects Fellows based on their contributions to science and technology, honoring those who display career excellence through service, innovation and leadership. Zhong’s lifelong accomplishments in food ingredient science have deepened our understanding of food composition and characteristics, ensuring what we eat is safe and healthy.
As a professor at the University of Tennessee, Zhong also teaches undergraduate courses in food chemistry and food analysis and graduate courses in food rheology, food colloids and physical properties of food biopolymers. He has mentored more than 100 post-doctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students and visiting scholars.
He says that educating our next generation of scientists is one of the most rewarding aspects of his career, and that he takes pride in seeing the work they accomplish. “It is important that we invest in our students and encourage their pursuit of knowledge, as the work we do as educators can impact the future of science and technology in ways we cannot even imagine. Someday I will get to pass the torch to the exceptionally talented students I have had the privilege of mentoring, and I look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish throughout their careers.”
Zhong earned his doctorate in both food science and chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in 2003. After joining the UT Department of Food Science in 2005, he has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and over 200 meeting abstracts. Zhong has served as editor-in-chief of Food Biophysics and an editorial board member of the Journal of Food Science. He was also president of IFT’s Volunteer Section from 2018-19 and twice received IFT’s Outstanding Volunteer Award.
Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu.