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Department of Food Science and Technology

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Pohlschneider receives National Teaching and Student Engagement award

Dec. 15, 2022

Congratulations to Food Science and Technology Senior Lecturer Dr. Mary Kay Pohlschneider on receiving the 2022 National Teaching and Student Engagement award, which “celebrates university faculty for their use of innovative teaching methods and service to students.” She was honored with three other awardees from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Pohlschneider has been a lecturer in the department since 2008.

The below information is a portion of the announcement taken from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities:
(click here to read the announcement in its entirety)


USDA Announces National Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences
NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Washington, D.C. – The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) today honored four public university faculty with national teaching awards recognizing excellence in agricultural sciences teaching and student engagement. Jacquelyn Dee Mosley of the University of Arkansas and Shyam Nair of Sam Houston State University were named national recipients of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Excellence in College and University Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences. Rebecca Baldwin of the University of Florida and Mary Kay Pohlschneider of the Ohio State University were named recipients in the national Teaching and Student Engagement category. The awards, which celebrate university faculty for their use of innovative teaching methods and service to students were presented as part of the 135th APLU Annual Meeting.

Details on the 2022 recipients of the National Teaching and Student Engagement awards:

Mary Kay Pohlschneider, The Ohio State University
Mary Kay Pohlschneider is a Senior Lecturer at The Ohio State University in the Department of Food Science and Technology. She has been teaching, advising, and mentoring students for 14 years. Her Introductory Food Processing course allows her to welcome students into the department and connect with them through their mutual excitement about the science of food. This relationship continues throughout their time at OSU as Mary Kay serves as an undergraduate advisor for the Food Business Management and Culinary Science students as well as an ad hoc advisor for many Food Science students in her courses. After they have taken many more courses, students return to Mary Kay as she manages their internship credits.

Among the other courses Mary Kay teaches, she is well known for classes about caffeine, chocolate, kitchen basics, and food controversies. From these courses, she has had the opportunity to offer faculty programing in the OSU residence halls. She is an avid advocate for food science and often is found presenting demonstrations and hands-on activities for students of all ages at schools and 4-H clubs. Mary Kay coaches FFA students at her local high school in Food Science, Meat Science and Biotechnology.

Mary Kay earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Animal Sciences and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Ohio State University, College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.