Professor receives two national awards

Vikram Mistry, professor and head of the Dairy Science Department at South Dakota State University, was honored with two national awards at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association held July 25-29 in St. Louis, Mo.

Mistry received the International Dairy Foods Association Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing and the Kraft Foods Teaching Award in Dairy Manufacturing.
Mistry is recognized for his contributions to the dairy processing industry through applied research, especially in cheese technology. Mistry has, for example, developed a way of using homogenization to improve body and texture of low and reduced fat cheese, as well as methods to reduce salt loss in cheese making and produce a food ingredient from salt whey. He has also conducted research on how different methods of milk concentration, such as ultrafiltration and vacuum condensing, impact the functionality of process cheese.

Mistry has published numerous research papers and book chapters on topics in dairy manufacturing. He is co-author of the book Cheese and Fermented Milk Foods. He has received one patent and has another patent pending. He has served as a reviewer for the Journal of Dairy Science, Food Structure, International Dairy Journal, and is currently deputy editor for the U.S. edition of Le Lait, the French journal of dairy science.

At SDSU, Mistry has taught courses in dairy processing and laboratory techniques. He continuously works to place dairy science students in internships that enhance their practical knowledge of their field, and he has initiated an internship program for high school students in SDSU’s dairy science department to learn about the opportunities of a dairy science career. He has been faculty advisor to approximately 55 undergraduate and 16 graduate students.

Mistry joined South Dakota State University in 1986 and was appointed Dairy Science Department Head in 2002. He holds a bachelor’s degree in dairy technology from Gujarat Agricultural University in India and master’s and doctoral degrees in food science from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

South Dakota State University / Dairy Science Department
Dairy Microbiology Rm 109 / Phone: 605-688-4116
College of Agricultural and Biological Sciences