The final speaker in the current UTM Academic Speaker Series is scheduled to present “Bioterrorism and the Food Chain: What Should We Be Doing” at 7:30 p.m. April 4, in Watkins Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Speaker Ted Labuza is the Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Food Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in food science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he taught food engineering until 1971.

Labuza teaches courses in food physical chemistry, reaction kinetics, food safety and risk assessment, food processing and food law. His research is related to the properties of water and influence of temperature on the processing, packaging and storage stability of foods, drugs and biologics.

Labuza’s recent work on biosecurity has been with both the Center for Animal Health and Food Safety and the new Homeland Security Center at the University of Minnesota. He is author of 220 scientific refereed research articles, 16 textbooks, 70 book chapters and holds seven patents.

In 1988, he was presented with the University of Minnesota H.T. Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award for his teaching and advising.

During Operation Desert Storm, Labuza served as a member of the U.S.

Defense Department High Heat Environment Food Quality Task Force.

Labuza’s presentation is co-sponsored by UTM Honors Programs and the Society of Sigma Xi. He is the Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer and spring banquet speaker.

The Academic Speakers program annually brings distinguished scholars, writers and performers to the UTM campus. For more information, contact Dr. Bill Zachry at zachry@utm.edu or 731-881-7436.