Originally from La Habra, CA., Scott A. Rankin is Professor and Chair of the Food Science Department and recipient of the William F. Vilas Trust Estate Award at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Rankin earned degrees from Brigham Young University and Oregon State University. He leads programs in dairy manufacturing, covering such topics as milk pasteurization, cleaning and sanitizing, dairy chemistry, and frozen desserts while conducting research on reaction chemistry. His research program has resulted in millions of dollars of intra and extramural funding, numerous publications and several patents and focuses on the area of small molecule chemistry applied to dairy and food issues. Primarily as a result of his research activities, Dr. Rankin has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Eckelman Foundation Fellowship; Society of Flavor Chemists Memorial Fellowship; Invention of the Year Finalist; Award of Honor for Outstanding Contribution to Cooperative Extension Service, the ADSA Foundation Scholar award; the ADSA Foundation Food Specialties award, and Brigham Young University Alumni Achievement Award. He also served as the elected president of the American Dairy Science Association (2013/14) and the Federation of Animal Science Societies.