Don McMahon
When I started my career at Utah State University in 1987, the Western Dairy Center had just been formed as a collaboration with Oregon State University, Brigham Young University and the dairy foods industry. That was a great opportunity for me as a young assistant professor to investigate ways to solve problems related to the quality of dairy foods and to look at technologies that could lead to innovations in the foods we eat. Being part of the Western Dairy Center certainly accelerated my ability to be successful.
The study of dairy foods at Utah State University owes its heritage to the late Professor C. Anthon “Tony” Ernstrom who brought together the faculty that made up the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences when it was formed in the 1960s. I was fortunate to meet Tony while he was on sabbatical leave in Australia and be recruited as a graduate student (PhD, 1983). It was his efforts to solve problems relating to dairy foods that led to the formation of the Western Dairy Center, which over the past 30 years has received about $20 million of research funding. During that time, half of all food science MS and PhD graduates were financially supported by the Western Dairy Center. So next time you are enjoying some of our Famous Aggie Ice Cream®, spare a thought and reflect on the impact that our past dairy foods professors, such as Tony Ernstrom, Gary Haight Richardson, AJ Morris and others, have had on the lives of the students they taught and mentored.
After the first 10 years of my life as a professor, I was thinking of the impact my research was having on the world. I had already reached the rank of full professor, and had a continuous stream of new research projects. Along with a good friend and colleague, Professor Craig Oberg, I had explored the chemistry and microbiology of cheese, and understood why mozzarella cheese melts so well, and even patented strategies for making a nonfat cheese for baking on a pizza. I thought it was quite a compliment to be told that “I’ve got all your papers in my filing cabinet” and “We used your papers to develop our new technologies.” It was a confirmation that my work was of value, although it took another 10 years to recognize what being a professor is all about.
In 2013, a good friend and research leader in the dairy industry, Eric Bastian, told me that my research, and that of other faculty in the Western Dairy Center, was all well and good, but the real value is in the students, who have the talents companies need to be innovation leaders. This wake-up call caused a paradigm shift within our research center. We responded to the twin messages about the growing need for graduate students who understand dairy technology in the western region, and that supporting those students would be a worthwhile investment by the dairy industry. Thus, started the BUILD Dairy program at the Western Dairy Center that aims to Build University-Industry linkages through Learning and Discovery. Now in its third year, there are 18 BUILD Dairy students being supported at Utah State University as well as at universities in four other states in the western region.