By Jodi Miller The Parker Food Science and Technology Building will feature 22 new labs. Faculty are set to move into new office space this month

Parker gift supports new food science facility

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences has received a gift of $3 million from alumnus Thomas L. Parker. The gift supports the University's new Food Science and Technology facility, as well as the Thomas L. Parker Excellence in Dairy Foods Program.

The gift is the culmination of the Parker family's involvement and partnership, over several decades, with Ohio State food scientists in new food product development. Enabling the Department of Food Science and Technology to surpass its $6.2 million campaign for the new building, the new gift triggered an additional $10.9 million in appropriations from the state of Ohio to complete construction.

In recognition of the gift, the new facility will bear the family's name as The Parker Food Science and Technology Building. The Board of Trustees approved the naming on Dec. 1.

"We are very grateful for this generous gift from Mr. Parker," said President William E. Kirwan. "The Department of Food Science and Technology at Ohio State is quickly emerging as a national and international center for excellence and innovation. The Parker Food Science and Technology Building will be instrumental in our quest to make the department the top food science program in the nation by 2003."

Over the last several years, rapid growth of the value-added food industry has placed additional demands on the areas of Ohio State that serve that industry. The Parker Food Science and Technology Building -- a state-of-the-art facility serving faculty, students, staff and the food industry -- will unify all of the various food sciences programs at Ohio State. It will serve as a permanent and visible symbol of the importance of food science and technology to the University, to the economy, and to all who benefit from improved food products.

Now ready for occupancy, the Parker Food Science and Technology Building connects Howlett Hall -- home of the Ohio Food Industries Pilot Plant, which processes fruit and vegetables -- and the Animal Sciences building, which houses a meat processing plant. The Parker building will feature a new dairy foods pilot plant, enabling students to process fluid milk; produce all varieties of cheese, yogurt and other traditional dairy foods; and investigate new processes, potential new dairy foods or dairy-derived ingredients.

Additionally, the Parker Food Science and Technology Building will feature a student-managed retail dairy store, offering products for the public produced primarily by students; state-of-the-art teaching laboratories for educating tomorrow's food scientists about food fermentation, microbiology, chemistry and engineering; and a new sensory laboratory, which will be available for use by Ohio industry representatives using faculty-directed testing.

Also funded by the Parker gift, the Thomas L. Parker Excellence in Dairy Foods Program will provide continuous support, in perpetuity, for research, teaching and outreach in the dairy foods arena. Annual income from this endowed fund will support the Thomas L. Parker Distinguished Visitor or the Thomas L. Parker Lecturer; scholarships and fellowships for students enrolled in dairy foods programs; support for student organizations, including the Dairy Foods Judging Team; special programs in the Dairy Foods Store, including student sensory testing; and annual funding for research in dairy and food engineering, thus complementing the existing J.T. "Stubby" Parker Chair in Dairy Foods.

Parker is the retired chairman and president of the former Big Drum Inc., the packaging manufacturing company founded by his father, J.T. "Stubby" Parker. Big Drum, which was eventually sold by the Parkers, was a "descendant" of the Frozen Drumstick Sales Co., the ice cream novelty manufacturer founded by Stubby and his twin brother, I.C. Parker, in 1928.

The Parker gift is part of Ohio State's ongoing fund-raising efforts following the success of its five-year, $1.23 billion "Affirm Thy Friendship" Campaign. The building also is a manifestation of the success of the five-year "Share the Vision" development campaign for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, which raised $78.2 million, said Lynda Heyl, director of development for the college. Over the last five years, Heyl said, 132 endowments were established, including three endowed chairs, 90 new scholarships or fellowships, and 39 research or program funds.

Faculty will move into their new offices this month, and classes will be offered in the new building in January. The building's grand opening celebration will be held in May.

University Police receive donation from alumna

Students, faculty, staff and visitors at Ohio State can take heart in the news that their stay on campus just got a little safer, thanks to the donation of 20 heart defibrillators from Ohio State alumna Dorothy Fenburr of Bexley.

The University Police Department held an open house to recognize the gift of equipment and training in November.

University police officers will use the Medtronic Physio-Control Life Pak 500 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in 10 of their cruisers, while the remaining 10 will be placed in the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Larkins Hall, the Wexner Center for the Arts and various other public gathering sites across campus.

An AED, which is approximately the size of a laptop computer, is used to shock a person's heart back into rhythm following sudden cardiac arrest. AEDs are important in rescue situations because they allow police officers and other trained civilians to aid cardiac arrest victims until emergency medical professionals arrive.

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