Professor Valente Álvarez is an excellent example of an accomplished faculty member at The Ohio State University. His accomplishments range from publishing books and in scientific journals; applying research and technology to the development of dairy products; establishing partnerships between Ohio State and the dairy industry; and influencing regulations and health standards for food processing.
Álvarez, originally from Mexico City, obtained his B.S. in Biochemical Engineering in 1974 from the National Polytechnic Institute, and he earned a master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science at Michigan State University. He joined The Ohio State University in 1994 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and worked in the areas of research, teaching, and extension. His previous relationships with dairy companies made him an asset to Ohio State by providing a closer bond between the university and industry. Álvarez achieved tenure in 2000 when he was promoted to Associate Professor and later, in 2004, he achieved Full Professor status.
Álvarez is author or co-author of 20 referred scientific journal articles, 22 scientific abstracts, and 18 technical reports or bulletins. Álvarez has also had the honor of being asked to contribute two chapters of the new edition of Sense of Evaluation of Dairy Products, one about milk (which is the most important one in the book), and the second about ice cream. This book was first published in 1988 with all the guidelines necessary to train Dairy Products Evaluators. Just like wine tasters, dairy evaluators can identify the quality of the product and extrapolate it to the raw materials and process quality, when they put any dairy product in their mouths. Testing is an acquired skill and this sensitive evaluation course is taught at the Food Industries Center at Ohio State; such a rare skill is a plus to dairy companies when they hire people, thus making Ohio State a very fruitful recruiting field. This upcoming edition will be available in 2008 and will be the reference guide for dairy evaluation training for the next five years.
Álvarez was recently promoted to Director of the Food Industries Center (FIC) at Ohio State. The FIC was formed in 1982 with the central vision to be internationally recognized as one of the premier (benchmark) food industries centers based on its capability to provide value-added technology and food safety solutions through the transfer of knowledge. By 2005, there was a need for a new director to take the lead of the FIC and Álvarez was offered this opportunity because of his close relationship with the dairy industry. Now, almost two years after he assumed the role of Acting Director, the FIC has had dramatic and flash-paced changes. Thanks to the leadership of Álvarez, the FIC is now a self-supporting operation because it is constantly generating contracts with companies, doing research in the pilot plant at our campus, or bringing students and researchers on-site to industry plants. Álvarez has been instrumental in getting food science students involved in hands-on projects, both on- and off-campus to get real world experience before they graduate. The results are quite tangible; a follow-up of these students has shown that they are able to get a job in 90 days or less because of this working partnership between Ohio State and the industry.
Álvarez pionered a program bringing top quality technology to the pilot plant on-campus, hirings researchers interested in its capabilities to deliver finished products like we find at any supermarket. Smaller companies now approach the FIC to develop projects, enabling them to compete with larger companies. Students are given the opportunity to work on these projects, experiencing real-life situations and problems.
Álvarez states that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. He is working hard so that the FIC will be able to grant scholarships to students, and he is very concerned with marketing. “We have the capability to make the finest products and do top level research in our pilot plant, but some people do not even know we are here,” he said. Hence, he has started to spread the word not only nationwide, but also internationally. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is the federal body that regulates all safety and health standards required of food producers selling their products in the United States. The FIC at Ohio State has been appointed as a training center for the FDA and is currently training more than 100 people a year from all over the country on-campus, and goes on-site to teach courses directly to companies.
