2004 Alumni Fellow Recipient - Joseph J. Speroni
Joseph
J. Speroni, '79g, '82g, was nominated jointly by the Graduate School and
the College of Agricultural Sciences to receive the Alumni Fellow Award.
Speroni is the director of Agricultural, Food, and Quality Sciences for Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. He provides the scientific and managerial leadership to several functions, including: Quality, Food Safety, Scientific Regulatory Affairs, Chemistry, Microbiology, General Food Science, Basic Health and Nutrition Research, and Agriculture. His role is broad and directed at the strategic policy level with responsibilities that include overseeing the entire process of cranberries moving from the farm, through manufacturing, distribution and ultimately on to the consumer.
Speroni is credited with leading Ocean Spray as the first juice company to participate with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) pilot program. HACCP is a science-based approach to safe food production. Under HACCP, companies analyze their manufacturing processes to determine the “critical control points” where problems are most likely to occur and where preventive measures are needed.
His research interests include the health benefits of cranberries, particularly in the prevention of urinary tract infections and peptic ulcers, and he is involved with several universities around the world sponsoring research to validate the health benefits of cranberries and increase desirable traits through processing, plant breeding, and other agricultural practices.
Speroni is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association, an alumni admissions volunteer, and the 2001 Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Agricultural Sciences. He earned a doctoral degree in food science in 1982 and a master’s degree in plant pathology in 1979, both from Penn State, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry in 1975 from the State University of New York at Cortland.