Manjeet Chinnan

2000 D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Global Programs

Department: Food Science and Technology

Dr. Manjeet Chinnan, Professor of Food Science and Technology and Biological and Agricultural Engineering, is an internationally recognized authority on the processing, handling and storage of peanuts, cereal legumes, fruits and vegetables. He has published over 81 refereed research publications and has been awarded more than $6.5 million in research grants and contracts as a principal investigator or co-investigator. His leadership in networking with international scientists in the Caribbean and Central America led to his organizing a proposal on postharvest handling of peanuts funded by the Peanut CRSP. The project lasted for ten years. He and his colleagues have continued to develop projects in Bulgaria, the Philippines and Ghana.

Dr. Chinnan has developed a simple and robust instrument to measure the hardness of black-eyed peas and other legumes as well. The development of a so-called hard-to-cook condition in nearly all beans and peas subjected to extended storage is a critical problem in the canning industry. The device, which was designed and developed for easy use in quality assurance laboratories in food processing companies in Georgia, allows for more precise control of therm-processing schemes, thus reducing the energy costs.

Due in large part to his contribution to the Nigerian USAID project, he and team members were awarded the 1991 Institute of Food Technologists International Award. This most prestigious award is given in recognition of contributions that have resulted in international exchange of ideas in the field of food technology, a better international understanding in the field, and a successful transfer of food technology to a developing nation.

Manjeet is described by his colleagues, collaborators and students as an intelligent, pleasant team player with a genuine desire to serve mankind.