Matt Taylor, Ph.D. is a Lifetime Member of Phi Tau Sigma and Professor of Food Microbiology at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. He earned the B.S. in Food Science, B.A. in Sociology, and M.S. in Food Science from North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in 2006. Joining Phi Tau Sigma as a student in 1999, Matt has served the Society as the Chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee for multiple annual cycles, assisted in the annual Awards Ceremony held in conjunction with the IFT Annual Meeting, and is a member of the Board of Directors. Matt’s teaching and research at Texas A&M University centers on the microbiological safety of animal and human foods, and how to ensure food safety protection through the use of natural and traditional chemical preservatives, as well as through translational research developing validation of thermal processing systems for pathogen control during animal byproduct rendering, a key preceding step to the formulation and manufacture of many animal foods and biological soil amendments. He serves as editorial board member for multiple journals including Journal of Food Protection, Food Microbiology, and International Journal of Food Microbiology, and recently co-edited the textbook Antimicrobials in Food, 4^th edition. Matt and his wife Alina live in Bryan, Texas, with their daughter Mary and son Brandon.

While Texas A&M does not have an active Chapter currently, I’ve led and facilitated efforts to nominate worthy faculty who did not come from universities with Chapters of Phi Tau Sigma, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in Food Science and Technology or aligned degree programs. I function as the Treasurer of the A&M Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta, and Co-Chair the Faculty Senate’s Academic Affairs standing committee.

Vision for ΦΤΣ: It is an honor to be thought worthy to be nominated to the President-Elect position of the Society. I would focus my efforts as President-Elect first in supporting the President in their moves to maintain Phi Tau Sigma’s reputation and pre-eminence as the Honor Society for Food Science and Technology. Additionally, I will support the President’s efforts to strengthen the Society’s relationships to other food science and technology-focused organizations beyond the American Meat Science Association, such as the International Association for Food Protection and American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers, as examples. Building ties with these organizations would expand Phi Tau Sigma’s visibility to those who are active in the food industries but do not necessarily come from a Food Science-type academic background, such as chemical or mechanical engineers finding employ in the food industry, who would make excellent candidates for membership and enhance both Phi Tau Sigma’s influence, and through recruitment of dues from those recruited members, financial strength.