Alina Surmacka Szczesniak (July 8, 1925 – July 23, 2016) was a Polish-born American

food scientist Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developmen ...

best known for her contributions to food texture.

Education and career

She was the daughter of Wladysław Surmacki, who was to be President of the

International Federation of Surveyors International Federation of Surveyors (abbreviated FIG, after the french: Fédération Internationale des Géomètres) is the UN-recognized global organization for the profession of surveying and related disciplines. It was established in 1878,

(FIG) in 1942 but did not survive the Second World War. In 2002, Szcześniak received the plaque of Honorary President of FIG on behalf of her father. Szcześniak attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

as a foreign student after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which she spent in her native

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Szcześniak earned her graduate degree in

food technology Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of the food products. Early scientific research into food technology concentrated on food preservation. Nic ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, then worked for

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

in the field of

food chemistry Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, milk as examples. It is similar to biochemist ...

, focusing on texture studies. She worked at General Foods from 1952 until her 1986 retirement, where she retired as a principal scientist. Szcześniak developed the now-standard Sensory Texture Profile Analysis, which analyzes, quantifies and places in correct sequence all textural properties perceived from the moment a piece of food is placed in the mouth until the last particle is swallowed. In 1969, Szcześniak was a Founding Editor of the ''Journal of Texture Studies'' and served for 10 years in that role.

Awards and honours

In 1985, Szcześniak became the first woman to receive the

Nicholas Appert Award The Nicolas Appert Award is awarded by the Chicago Section of the Institute of Food Technologists for preeminence in and contributions to the field of food technology. The award has been given annually since 1942 and is named after Nicolas Appert, ...

, the highest honor bestowed upon its members by the

Institute of Food Technologists The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from ...

(IFT). It commended her ''pioneering work on food texture that led to its recognition as an important quality attribute affecting consumer acceptance and to its organization as a subdiscipline of food science.'' She is the only woman thus far to ever win the Nicholas Appert Award. Dr Szcześniak was elected an IFT Fellow in 1981.

References

Sources

*"People News: Alina S. Szcześniak." ''Food Technology.'' September 2002: p. 16. *

Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

, Amerykanie z wyboru mericans by Choice Warsaw 1998, pg. 92–111,

External links

List of IFT past award winnersList of IFT Fellows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szczesniak, Alina S. 1925 births 2016 deaths American food chemists American food scientists Polish emigrants to the United States Fellows of the Institute of Food Technologists Bryn Mawr College alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Polish chemists Polish women chemists