PERSONNEL
Phillip Tong Joins ADPI As Tech Consultant
Elmhust, IL—Following his March retirement from California Polytechnic State University, Phillip Tong has joined the American Dairy Products Institute (ADPI) as a part-time technology consultant.
We’re thrilled to have someone of Phil’s stature join us and help achieve our vision of becoming the world’s “go-to” authority on dairy ingredients, said ADPI CEO Dave Thomas.
During his nearly three decades at Cal Poly, Tong taught thousands of undergraduate students, graduate students, and industry members on how to convert milk into quality dairy products.
During his tenure at Cal Poly, Tong and his group conducted a wide range of research to improve the quality and use of dairy foods and dairy ingredients.
As former director of Cal Poly’s Dairy Products Technology Center (DPTC), he was also instrumental in guiding the overall development and growth of the center.
Tong has also served on numerous dairy association boards including president and board member of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), chair of the Dairy Foods Division of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), and board of directors of the Federation of Animal Science Societies. Currently, he serves as a section editor for the Journal of Dairy Science.
RECOGNITION
Caroline Wolf, Chris Eckerman Are 2016 WDPA Scholarship Recipients
Middleton, WI—Chris Eckerman and Caroline Wolf are this year’s winners of the Robert L. Bradley and Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) Scholarships, valued at $2,000 each.
Eckerman, who is the winner of the Robert L. Bradley Scholarship, is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in food science and theater.
He has also served on the UW-Madison Dairy Product Evaluation Team and has spent two years as a sensory panelist at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR).
Eckerman plans to pursue a career in the dairy industry, with a focus on cheese production.
Wolf is the winner of this year’s WDPA Scholarship. As a junior at the University of Wisconsin- River Falls, Wolf is pursuing a dairy science major with a management option.
In 2013, Wolf was selected as the Clark County Fairest of the Fair, and became part of the UW- River Falls Dairy Club.
Wolf has held internships at Grassland Dairy Products, and plans to pursue a career as a field representative for a milk plant or as a state milk inspector.
Funding for the scholarships come from net proceeds of the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest auction. WDPA also awards a $2,000 scholarship to the MATC Culinary School and a $2,500 donation to the National Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest. ANN O’LEARY of Evansville, WI, has been chosen as the 69th Alice in Dairyland, succeeding TEYANNA LOETHER of Sauk City on June 1. In her new role, O’Leary will work as a communications liaison for the WDATCP to educate the public on the state’s agriculture industry. O’Leary currently works at Epic as a corporate recruiter and volunteers with the Rock County 4-H Program. She was selected after three days of final interview events including speeches, agribusiness tours, media interviews and a public question-answer session. In her new role, O’Leary will travel roughly 40,000 miles speaking at events and giving media interviews.
