Catharine Young was named executive director of the New York State Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture in March 2019. A longtime champion of agricultural and economic development, Catharine served for 20 years in the New York State Legislature representing western New York. During that time, she chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee, founded the Legislative Wine and Grape Caucus, sponsored legislation to create the New York State Council on Food Policy, and chaired the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources. She was the first woman in state history to chair the influential Senate Finance Committee. Catharine is passionate about her new role and feels that “To grow New York’s food, beverage, and agriculture economy, and to help businesses expand and flourish by linking them with the incredible innovation, expertise, and resources at Cornell, is a natural extension of the work that I have done as a senator.”

Donna F. Schaffner, M.Sc., is the associate director for food safety, quality assurance, and training at the Rutgers University Food Innovation Center. Donna has more than 20 years of experience as a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) specialist.

She teaches FDA certificate programs in Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHF), Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), general HACCP, Seafood HACCP, Better Process Control School, Food Defense, Intentional Adulteration – Vulnerability Assessments (IA-VA), and teaches microbiology and food safety classes in the U.S. and abroad. Donna holds Train the Trainer certificates for PCHF, FSVP, FSIS, and FDA HACCP, and Seafood HACCP, and Lead Instructor certificates for PCHF, FSVP, IA-VA, Seafood HACCP, and Meat & Poultry HACCP.

Dr. Noel Anderson is a managing partner of Mosaic Food Advisors LLC which helps start-up companies in the food and beverage arena succeed in the marketplace. Previously, Noel spent 19 years in Research & Development at PepsiCo and 18 years at General Foods/Kraft.

After receiving his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts in Food Science and Nutrition Noel stayed actively engaged with the Food Science Department. Noel served on its Industrial Advisory Board for more than 20 years, with 16 years as its Chairperson. During this time the department raised over $12 million and its Graduate Program achieved the #1 ranking in the US. He received the UMass Amherst Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2011.

Dr. John W. Spink is an assistant professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management in the Eli Broad Business College at Michigan State University (MSU). Previously, he was an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice in the College of Social Science at MSU and in the College of Veterinary Medicine. His leadership positions include product fraud-related activities with ISO 22000, GFSI, and the U.S. Pharmacopeia. Global activities include engagements with the European Commission, INTERPOL, Codex Alimentarius, and WHO/FAO, and he served as an advisor on food fraud to the Chinese National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. He also spent 11 years at the Chevron Corporation, and was an independent consultant, before earning a Ph.D. in packaging/anti-counterfeit strategies at MSU in 2009.

Vidya Ananth is VP of Food Safety at Novolyze, where she leads Food Safety and Quality and its digitalization, Application Support, and Customer Success. As you are about to hear, she is extremely knowledgeable and has some great advice and thoughts to help you move forward with digitalizing your processes.

Vidya has been in the food industry for over 25 years working with General Mills, The National Food Lab, Safeway, Clorox, and Kohana Coffee - making significant contributions in the areas of food safety, quality, and regulatory affairs with a main goal to bend the curve of food borne illness globally. 

Wendy White is the Industry Manager for Food and Beverage for Georgia Tech’s Georgia Manufacturing Extension Program (GaMEP). She serves as GaMEP’s food safety expert to Georgia food businesses by providing educational outreach and aiding the improvement of food safety and quality systems.

Before joining academia in 2019, Wendy spent the first 17 years of her career in food manufacturing and distribution, most recently as a Corporate Director of Food Safety & Quality for Golden State Foods.

Ryk Lues, Ph.D., holds the position of Professor of Food Safety and Director of the Centre for Applied Food Sustainability and Biotechnology (CAFSaB) at the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa. His main field of specialization involves social-behavioral aspects that impact food safety and organizational food safety culture. He serves on several national regulatory and legal advisory teams, acts as an expert witness, and has held the office of vice president of the South African Association of Food Science and Technology (SAAFoST). He is a National Research Foundation of South Africa-rated scientist.