Joseph Marcy reappointed as head of Department of Food Science and Technology for another five years

Joseph Marcy, head of the department of Food Science and Technology (FST), has been reappointed to his position for another half decade following his regular five-year review by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and FST.

CALS department heads are subject to an exhaustive evaluation at the end of each five-year period to determine if they are serving effectively in their role. An Evaluation Coordinating Team (ECT) is assembled, which then works in coordination with the Dean to go through the individual in question’s major accomplishments and potential areas for improvement.

After a thorough review of his last half-decade of efforts by the appointed ECT, which included accomplishments such as overseeing the final construction of the Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building and working with Penn State to create a certificate program that teaches food safety systems management to students at the Armenian National Agrarian University, Marcy was found to be a “very effective” department head, according to the ECT’s report. It was both the team and Dean Alan Grant’s recommendation that he continue in his role.

“The review was thoughtful and helpful, and it was interesting to see the many changes that had occurred in FST,” Marcy said. “We moved into a new research building, added 19 new faculty and staff hires and had six faculty promotions to a higher rank, began the food fermentation option for undergrads, and FST room 27 — formerly a dairy processing facility — is now a high technology classroom.”

He added, “None of that would have occurred without the efforts of the whole department."

Marcy, who has decades of food industry experience, has been at the department’s helm since 2008. After receiving his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University (NCSU), he served as assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Florida and as business development manager for Rampart Packaging Inc. before arriving at Virginia Tech, where he has been with FST since 1988.

Marcy’s academic interests focus on food chemistry and interactions of foods and packaging. His research has included food preservation and the development of novel package integrity test methodologies for hermetically sealed containers. The author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, Marcy’s work has been extensively featured in a variety of scientific journals and magazines, such as the Journal of Food Safety, the International Journal of Food Science and the Journal of Applied Polymer Science. His many awards include Virginia Tech’s International Faculty Development Award, the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit, the college’s Certificate of Teaching Excellence, and the Italian Packaging Technology Award, which he received twice.

Prior to receiving his doctorate degree in food science from NCSU, Marcy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food technology and science from the University of Tennessee.

—Written by Alex Hood