2018 Distinguished Alumna

Barbara Howell Raphael retired in 2008 as executive vice president of research and development for Cadbury, Ltd., the second-largest multinational confectionary brand in the world. During her 18-year tenure with the company, she served in progressively more responsible positions. She designed a state-of-the-art laboratory facility in Morristown, N.J., and launched new products, including Dentyne Ice, Stride, and Trident White.

The first woman to receive a graduate assistantship in food science at Penn State, Raphael taught at the University of Delaware for a short time before taking a position with General Foods. There, she was honored with the company's President's Award for implementing a new process for Cool Whip® frozen whipped topping. She was credited with saving the company $1 million. Raphael dedicated the next several decades to her lifelong passion: product development. While she worked for Warner Lambert, the company was purchased by Pfizer, and her business division was subsequently purchased by Cadbury.

Always deeply committed to her alma mater, Raphael served on the College of Health and Human Development Alumni Board in the 1990s and was a member of the Department of Food Science Advisory Board for several years. She has actively recruited Penn State students for positions in her organization. Additionally, she was a member of the Penn State Professional Women's Network of New York and helped to establish the Penn State Women's Network of New Jersey.

Raphael received the Penn State Alumni Association's Alumni Fellow Award in 1999 and was inducted into the College of Agricultural Sciences' Armsby Honor Society in 2002. She established a Trustee Matching Scholarship in 2014.

Raphael, a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association,is the daughter of Benjamin F. Howell, Jr., retired associate dean of The Graduate School at Penn State. She has two children and four grandchildren. Her interests now include playing bridge and enjoying the theatre in New York and Florida, where she lives.