Jaclyn J. Rusch Faculty Scholar in Food Science

Jaclyn J. Rusch '51, the first woman to graduate from Oregon State's Food Science program, made plans through her estate to establish an endowment that will support a rising star in the department's faculty. The Jaclyn J. Rusch Faculty Scholar in Food Science will advance research in one of three areas: food microbiology and safety, novel food-processing technologies, or commercially viable value-added foods.

A native Californian who died in 2022, Rusch long supported the College of Agricultural Sciences and served on its E.R. Jackman Friends and Alumni Fellows Committee. In 1996 she and Robert and Betty Root, also OSU graduates, established the Jacobs-Root Professorship in Food Science and Technology. It honors her father, Ernest Engler Jacobs, who was a chemist in the food-processing industry.