The 2019 Gamma Sigma Delta Faculty Award recipients were recognized at the College of Agricultural Sciences and Gamma Sigma Delta Celebration of Excellence Celebration on Thursday, March 28, 2019 in Room 112 of the Forest Resources Building.
2019 GSD Faculty Award Recipients (L to R: Drs. Rama Radhakrishna and Kerry Kaylegian)
The Outstanding Research Award
Dr. Rama Radhakrishna is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education and Assistant Dean for graduate education in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State. Rama received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural sciences from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UAS), India and his Ph.D. in agricultural education (with an emphasis in Extension education) from Penn State. Rama teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in program development, program evaluation, and research methods and data analysis. He has published over 125 refereed journal articles in 19 different journals and presented over 400 refereed papers and posters. His research expertise is in the area of program development and evaluation, especially focusing on evaluation plans, logic models, instrumentation, outcome mapping, and impact evaluation.
The Outstanding Extension Award
Dr. Kerry Kaylegian provides technical support and outreach programs to improve the safety and quality of dairy products in Pennsylvania and beyond. She teaches workshops on FSMA preventive controls for dairy foods, cheese making, dairy basics for artisan processors, pasteurizer operations, and manufacture of cultured dairy products. She also is developing and evaluating educational tools to identify measurable quality parameters, monitor raw materials, access process and finished product variation, and determine which variables have the most impact in making consistent dairy products. She recently received SARE funding to develop tools to help raw milk cheesemakers conduct hazard analyses and risk assessments to meet the new FSMA requirements. In addition to her Extension programs, Dr. Kaylegian has a strong interest in sensory evaluation of dairy products and is an international cheese and dairy product judge, coach of the Penn State Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Team, Chair of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Cheese Competition, and advisor to the Penn State Cheese Club.
The Outstanding Teaching Award(s)
A teaching award was not given.
