IAFP Announces 2024 Award Recipients

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Des Moines, Iowa – The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) will present awards recognizing excellence in food safety to the following organizations and individuals at IAFP 2024, July 14–17, in Long Beach, California.

The IAFP Fellow Award is awarded to professionals who have contributed to IAFP and its affiliates with distinction over an extended period of time. This year’s recipients are Roger Cook, New Zealand Food Safety, Wellington, New Zealand; Santos Garcia, Universidad Autonoma De Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Leon, Mexico; and Julie Jean, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.

Don Zink, IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group, Taylors, South Carolina, will be awarded the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This award, given at the discretion of the IAFP President, recognizes an individual who has made a lasting impact on Advancing Food Safety Worldwide® through a lifetime of professional achievements in food protection.

The Honorary Life Membership Award will be presented to Gary Acuff, Acuff Consulting LLC, College Station, Texas; Loralyn Ledenbach, Ledenbach Food Safety, LLC, Skokie, Illinois; James Dickson, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa; Cindy Jiang, McDonald’s Corporation (retired), Woodridge, Illinois; and John Butts, Food Safety by Design, St. John, Indiana.  

The Harry Haverland Citation Award will be awarded to Kathleen Glass, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, for her years of devotion to the ideals and objectives of the Association.

Stop Foodborne Illness' program, the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, Chicago, Illinois, will receive the Food Safety Innovation Award, given for the development of its Food Safety Culture Toolkit.

The International Leadership Award will be presented to Vijay Juneja, USDA-ARS-ERRC, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, for his dedication to the high ideals and objectives of IAFP and for promotion of the mission of the Association in countries outside of the United States and Canada.

Caroline Smith DeWaal, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C., will receive the Food Safety Award in recognition of a long history of outstanding contributions to food safety.

The Frozen Food Foundation Freezing Research Award will be presented to Marcel Zwietering, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands. This award honors an individual, group, or organization for preeminence and outstanding contributions in research that impacts food safety attributes of freezing.

The Maurice Weber Laboratorian Award will be presented to Jeffrey Kornacki, Kornacki Microbiology Solutions, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, to recognize his service for outstanding contributions in the laboratory and recognizing a commitment to the development of innovative and practical analytical approaches in support of food safety.

Daniel Weller, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Decatur, Georgia, and Adjunct Research Professor at both Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, and Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, will be presented with the Larry Beuchat Young Researcher Award. This award is presented to a young researcher who has shown outstanding ability and professional promise in the early years of his or her career.

The James M. Jay Diversity in Food Safety Award will be presented to Byron Chaves, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska. This award recognizes an individual who has made exceptional contributions to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of food safety.

Ernest Julian, Rhode Island Department of Health (retired), Rehoboth, Massachusetts, is the recipient of the Ewen C.D. Todd Control of Foodborne Illness Award. This award recognizes an individual for dedicated and exceptional contributions to the reduction of risks of foodborne illness.

Neil Bogart, Bogart Food Safety & Sanitation Associates, Inc., Alabaster, Alabama, will receive the Sanitarian Award to recognize his dedication and exceptional service to the profession of sanitarian, serving the public and the food industry.

The Elmer Marth Educator Award will be presented to Carol Wallace, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom, to recognize her for dedicated and exceptional contributions to the profession of education.

Jeffrey Kornacki, Kornacki Microbiology Solutions, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, is the recipient of the Harold Barnum Industry Award. This award recognizes his outstanding service to IAFP, the public, and the food industry.