The American Meat Science Association has selected the director of Texas Tech University's International Center for Food Industry Excellence as the recipient of this year's Distinguished Extension-Industry Service Award. Program officials note that the honor, established in 1965, was given to Mindy Brashears, a professor of food microbiology and food safety in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, in recognition of her outstanding achievement in meat science extension and service to the industry.

The award, sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Meat & Poultry Research & Education, will be presented as part of the AMSA's 70th Reciprocal Meat Conference next month in College Station.

In presenting the award, AMSA leaders noted that Brashears has dedicated her career to promoting the safety and security of the world's food supply with an emphasis on meat safety. At Texas Tech she has distinguished herself as a top-tier research scientist, and is dedicated to industry education. Brashears is recognized for creating and implementing a distinctively effective program designed to not only educate industry professionals, but also to truly prepare students for real-world work in the meat science field.

Brashears, an internationally-recognized expert in food safety issues both in pre-harvest and post-harvest environments, leads a research center focused on providing 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. She is also a faculty member on the Texas Tech Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy in the Texas Tech School of Law.

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 was recently recognized as one of the "Top 25 Future Icons in the Beef Industry" by the National Provisioner for of her innovative advances in food safety.

In addition to her work in food safety, Brashears has helped develop international food safety programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently she's leading a large project in Honduras designed to re-establish the cattle and beef industries. Other honors include the ARCS Foundation's Scientist of the Year Award, Maurice Weber Laboratorian Award from the International Association for Food Protection and the Big 12 Rising Star Award for Innovation. She was recently inducted as a Fellow into the National Academy of Inventors.

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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