By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University recently wrapped up its search for a new leader for its School of Packaging.

Dr. Joseph Hotchkiss, former chair of the Cornell University Department of Food Science, joined MSU on Oct. 1 as the director of the MSU School of Packaging within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). He also is the inaugural director of the university’s planned Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability.

He succeeds Sue Selke, who had served as acting director of the school since July 2007.

Since 1980, Hotchkiss had been a member of the Cornell faculty in the Department of Food Science. He taught a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and was faculty thesis advisor to more than 45 graduate students.

Hotchkiss said his “broad goal is to maintain the school’s premier position in this field.

“We also need to make sure we are educating our students in the very best way possible, and doing the kind of research that will support the packaging industry and other industries in Michigan,” he said.

As the director for the planned Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability, Hotchkiss said the university is looking to be a leader in developing sustainable packaging. “Every producer has to package their product. We think we have a role in helping Michigan companies do this a little better, at a little lower cost,” he said.

“In general, society is asking a lot of things of the university. One of the things they are asking is to guide us into the future in terms of sustainability. Packaging is a significant use of resources. You can’t buy a product in the store that hasn’t been packaged.”

One focus for the center will be to “develop packaging that has less environmental cost and impact,” he said. “We should be leaders in this. If we are not leaders in it, we will end up buying our sustainable packaging from other places in the world.”

Hotchkiss said the development of sustainable packaging “ties in nicely to agriculture” because of the possibilities of converting agricultural waste into materials that can be used successfully for packaging. “A lot of people believe that new packaging will come out of biosystems or biomaterial,” he said.

While at Cornell, Hotchkiss participated in various extension outreach activities and has an extensive research portfolio focused on the safety, nutrition and packaging of food, for which he holds five patents. He also served as the department chair, director of the Cornell Institute of Food Science and previously was a science advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

He has been a consultant to a variety of food products, packaging and consumer goods corporations, as well as the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He has also served on committees within many local, state and federal governmental agencies and industry organizations.

CANR Dean Jeffrey D. Armstrong is pleased to have such an experienced educator join the School of Packaging.

“I am excited to have Joe Hotchkiss join our faculty to provide vision and direction to our packaging programs,” said Armstrong. “Under his leadership, we will build upon the School of Packaging’s longstanding preeminence within the industry and develop the new Center for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability, to provide a platform for collaboration between industry partners and university scientists addressing sustainable packaging practices.”

Hotchkiss earned a doctorate in Food Chemistry and Toxicology in 1979 and a master’s in Food Chemistry and Organic Chemistry in 1977 from Oregon State University. In 1971, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Northern Colorado.

His wife, Michele Bailey, will also join the MSU faculty as a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, and as an adjunct to the CANR Department of Animal Science.