August 17, 2006

By Joe Ogrodnick

GENEVA, NY: Chang Y. “Cy” Lee, professor of food science and chairperson of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, was recently elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science & Technology (IAFoST). Lee will be among the class of new fellows inducted into the IAFoST during the World Food Congress in Nantes, France September 17–21.

Lee is being cited for his contributions to food chemistry, food processing, and the functional bioactivities of phytochemicals. He is also recognized for work directed at the application of chemistry to improve the nutritional and neutraceutical quality of plant foods. His recent publications on antioxidants were selected as the most accessed articles published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2004, and he was recognized as one of the most highly cited researchers by the Institute for Scientific Information for that same year.

“This is a great honor for Dr. Lee, one that recognizes his outstanding accomplishments as well as the strengths of food science at Cornell,” said Experiment Station director Thomas J. Burr. “I have always been impressed with how he is able to run a highly productive cutting-edge research program, and, at the same time, serve as a strong and effective leader of the department.”

IAFoST was created by the International Union of Food Science and Technology in 1997 to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of food science and technology, improved international cooperation, promoted food science and technology, and stimulated international education and training in food science and technology. To be eligible for election as fellow, a person must be generally recognized as having established an outstanding international reputation for scientific accomplishments and/or leadership in the area of food science and technology.

Among his other honors and awards, Lee is a fellow of three other professional societies: the American Chemical Society’s Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology. Lee is the author of over 200 research articles, 15 book chapters, three books, and over 150 abstracts and other publications.

“This is a great honor and I’m humbled by my selection,” Lee said. “Much of this I owe to my former students, postdocs, colleagues, and mentors in both our department and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell.”

Lee is the third food scientist from Geneva to be so honored. Malcolm Bourne was named an inaugural Fellow in 1998, and Keith Steinkraus was elected in 1999. Both are Cornell emeritus professors.

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