The West Texas Association for Women in STEAM has presented its annual Outstanding Woman Leader Award to a food safety expert based in Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Mindy Brashears, a professor of food microbiology and food safety in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, accepted the honor on Wednesday (May 10) in a special program that recognized her work to support and encourage women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics (STEAM).

Program officials said the award is presented during the spring semester each year to recognize women in the Texas Tech University System who are active supporters of women in STEAM, and who have demonstrated their commitment to the education, training and mentoring of women as well as to overall gender equity in the sciences.

Brashears' nominators called her a bright example to women everywhere who wish to pursue their dreams of being scientists.

"The most rewarding accomplishment is the opportunity to invest my life in the lives of young scientists," Brashears said. "I'm honored and humbled to receive this award and thankful to my students for the nomination. No accomplishment or award can ever come close to the satisfaction of watching students grow and achieve great things in their own lives."

Brashears, a worldwide expert in food safety issues both in pre-harvest and post-harvest environments, is also the director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech. The center works to provide the world with a more secure food supply through innovation, research and technology transfer across the four pillars of food security - access, availability, stability and utilization.

Brashears, who earned her bachelor's degree in food technology from Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, also directs extensive research efforts into reducing the occurrences of pathogens in food and its resistance to drugs and other methods meant reduce it. She is also a faculty member on the Texas Tech Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy in the Texas Tech School of Law.

CONTACT: Michael Orth, chairman, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-5653 or michael.orth@ttu.edu

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