Food Professionals elect New Honorary Fellow 19 Mar 2010

The Institute of Food Science and Technology has elected Helen Gay Wild an Honorary Fellow of the Institute.

Helen recently retired as Chief Executive of IFST after 34 years of service. The Honorary Fellowship is awarded in recognition of her outstanding contributions and distinguished service to food science and technology throughout her career.

On hearing the news of her election to Hon Fellow, Helen said, “I could not have achieved such progress without the dedicated support of IFST volunteers and staff. My special gratitude goes to the Board of Trustees, for bestowing IFST's most treasured title, Honorary Fellowship. The Institute has been such a huge part of my life and values that I could not imagine a greater tribute.“

Helen Wild served as IFST's first Chief Executive and has led the Institute's transformation from a small volunteer-run society renting an office in Oxted, to today's successful and widely respected body with its own premises and wide portfolio of interests and activities, supported by professional staff.

Helen said, “ As a science student in the 60s and 70s, food science & technology appealed to me both as a fascinating subject and as a means to make the world a better place, in the context of the famines which were then raging. IFST has provided me with the opportunity to work in an environment dedicated to public good and I have enjoyed continued motivation not only from the Institute's growth and development but also the impact of its activities which are directed to improving the world in which we live.”