News Release
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
University of Arkansas
CONTACT: A.J. Jorgenson, Mars, Inc., McLean, Va.
703-827-2175,
Howell Medders, Division of Agriculture Communications
479-575-5647,
May 5, 2011
Mars science officer is Bumpers College Outstanding Alumnus
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Harold H. Schmitz, chief science officer at Mars, Inc., and director of thebusiness unit,Mars Biomedical, in McLean, Va., is the 2011 Outstanding Alumnus of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas. He will be the keynote speaker at the college’s commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m., May 14, in Barnhill Arena.
Schmitz grew up in Fayetteville and received a B.S. degree in food science from the University of Arkansas in 1987. He has worked at Mars since 1993 in scientific and regulatory affairs, fundamental research, analytical and applied sciences and corporate staff. He was appointed chief science officer in 2006.
Bumpers College Dean Michael E. Vayda said, “Dr. Schmitz is an exemplary role model for our students in terms of their career aspirations. He has been a leader in innovative university-corporate partnerships. He and Mars have been very supportive of the Bumpers College and the University of Arkansas in the form of sponsored research and internships.”
Schmitz has a master's degree in food science from the University of Illinois and received a doctoral degree in food science, with a minor in organic chemistry, in 1993 at North Carolina State University.
Schmitz conducts research in the agricultural, biomedical, clinical and engineering sciences related to food production and its influence on human and companion-animal health. In addition to research, he is an advocate for enhancing the contributions that science can make to society and the environment, and he presently serves on the executive committee of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable at The National Academies.
Schmitz has authored and co-authored many peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and often chairs symposia on state-of-the-art knowledge in the area of phytochemicals and health benefits. He is a visiting faculty member at the University of California, Davis, and serves on advisory boards at the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois and Washington University.
Schmitz is a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society and Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of Agriculture.
News releases and photos are available online at
http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/392.htm
PHOTO: (Schmitz wh.jpg)
Harold H. Schmitz, Chief Science Officer at Mars, Inc., and Director of theBusiness Unit,Mars Biomedical