J. T. 'STUBBY' PARKER
ENDOWED CHAIR IN DAIRY FOODS
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SEMI-ANUAL UPDATES:

Every 6 months the activities of the Parker Chair are updated to indicate current progress in research, teaching and outreach. Two reports for 2003 are available:

       The most recent update is for May 2006: 

       The previous report for June 2004 is also available

ESTABLISHMENT:

Several industry leaders saw the need to keep Ohio at the fore-front of dairy products research and began to investigate the possibility of creating a endowned chair specifically for dairy foods in the 1980's. Key among these was Joseph Soehnlen of Superior Dairy, who investigated the potential for obtaining such a chair, and presented the idea to John Lindamood. Later, as chair of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Jim Martin then championed the cause. It was soon evident that to raise the amount of money needed would required the dedicated effort of some enthusiastic industry supporters. The resulting committee was chaired by Webb Jennings. Many people spent much time and effort in money raising efforts. Among those most active were Webb Jennings, Jim Linedeman, John Miller and Keb Lehman.

The J. T. "Stubby" Parker Chair was established on February 2, 1990 following a major gift from Thomas L. Parker in memory of his father, J.T. "Stubby" Parker. J.T. Parker's life work was in the dairy industry and he was the originator of Drumstick in Columbus, Ohio. Over the years when the dairy plant was fully operating, Drumstick frequently used the pilot plant facilities in testing new concepts. Additional gifts from 28 companies and numerous individuals provided the required $1,250,000 by 1993. Since then re-investment of some of the funds and additional gifts have brought the principal to more the $1,800,000.  

A detailed history of the establishment of the J.T. "Stubby" Parker Chair in Dairy Foods has been prepared by John Lindamood and can be accessed by clicking HERE.

OBJECTIVES: 

The stated objective is that "the income shall be used to support the work of a distinguished professor whose research, teaching and public service focus on stimulating new research into the chemical, microbioloogy and/or engineering phases of the dairy foods industry."

CHAIR HOLDERS: 

The salary of the Professor holding theChair position is provided by the University.  To date, two Professors have held the position of the J.T. "Stubby" Parker Chairy in Dairy Foods: 

Professor J. H. (Jim) Martin, 1990-1991

Professor W. James (Jim) Harper 1993-1998, 1998 to 2004 and 2005-2010

ADVISORY BOARD:    

An industry advisory Board provides over-sight into the Chair's activities and provides insight into the future needs of the dairy industry in the State of Ohio.   Industry input into the future direction of the program of the chair is important to insure that the program is meaningful for the dairy industry of the state and will provide the fundamental basis for the development of the products and processes of the future.

This Board meets twice a year to review progress and to make suggestions for future work.

Advisory Board Members for the year 2005-6 include:

THE PARKER CHAIR RESEARCH TEAM:

Parker Building - Room 340

The research activities of the Parker Chair take place in Rooms334, 340 of the Parker Building and room 59B in Howlett Hall.. At the present time, 5 graduate students,  one Visiting Scientist from Tukey, 1 Post Doc and 2 Research Associates make up the Parker Chair research team. Go to the Parker Chair Research Team Page to meet the current members of the Parker Team

PARKER CHAIR ALUMNI

The Parker Chair is proud of its graduates (alumni), who contributed significantly to the program of the Chair and are now out in the "real world" making a contribution to the dairy industry.

FUNCTIONAL DAIRY FOODS:

The increasing interest in functional foods has prompted the establishment of a Page that will be updated on a regular basis to provide new information as it become available. [In the beginning it will take some time to report the work in this field over the past few years.]

UPDATE ON PROGRESS

PRESENTATIONS:

Power Point Presentations made at the 2002 IFT and ADSA meetings are available for review:
     -Whey products as Fuctional Foods (IFT)
     -Whey protein and prostate health  (IFT)
     -Trace Thiol Compounds in Aged Cheddar Cheese(ADSA)
       - Comparison of sensory and Electronic Nose evaluation of Swiss cheese(ADSA)
       -Effect of high pressure processing of Swiss cheese starter cultures on growth,
        free amino acids and aroma in a sterile slurry system(ADSA)

REPORT ON TEN YEARS OF PROGRESS

The first five years of progress (1993-1998) under W. James (Jim) Harper is reviewed. 

A report is in preparation for the progress since 1998. (1999-2005) under W. James (Jim) Harper

[Return to Harper Home Page]

For more information contact W. James (Jim) Harper - harper.9@osu.edu