University of Georgia food science expert Faith Critzer has been named head of the Department of Food Science and Technology effective Aug. 1.

Critzer, who had served as interim department head since fall 2025, succeeds Manpreet Singh, who was named associate dean for graduate studies, faculty affairs and strategic initiatives at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experienced leader focused on continued growth

Serving as interim department head has given her valuable leadership experience and the chance to think more strategically about the department’s future and priorities in her new role, she explained.

“The department has a legacy of excellence in our field,” Critzer said. “I think that we’ve had tremendous growth within the department under Dr. Singh’s leadership. I expect to maintain a high level of engagement and lead our faculty, staff and students around our core missions of research, teaching and Extension to continue that trajectory.”

Expanding research and student opportunities

During her academic career, she has supervised more than 25 graduate students, published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and authored 40 peer-reviewed expert resources from UGA Cooperative Extension. At UGA, her research has focused on identifying food safety risks tied to producing and packing fresh fruits and vegetables and developing risk-mitigation and education strategies. 

Looking ahead, Critzer plans to prioritize efforts to increase undergraduate enrollment to meet growing workforce demands across the food industry. She also wants to help meet industry needs, including expanding research capabilities in emerging areas such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, foods for health, and novel processing technologies.

“I would really like to see us continue growing our student undergraduate numbers so we have more students who are exposed to the wonderful career paths that are connected to food science,” Critzer said. “I think that is really going to help the food-based industries in Georgia, as well as throughout the United States, to have high-quality talent, because we provide a high-quality education to those students.”

A department dedicated to multidisciplinary expertise

The breadth of expertise across faculty is one of the department’s greatest strengths, explained Critzer. Food science and technology brings together specialists from multiple disciplines in agriculture and science.

“Being a standalone department means that we have faculty working in a lot of diverse areas, and that gives us a strength that not many have,” Critzer said. “We really do need to cover all the disciplines that make up food science. None is more or less important than the other, and I find that we do that quite well here at the University of Georgia.”

Critzer is excited to continue supporting faculty, staff and Extension programming, working together as a team to advance the department’s research and education impact.

Beyond the department, she hopes to strengthen relationships with industry partners, alumni and other external stakeholders. Looking ahead to her tenure in leadership, she said:

I look forward to continuing to strengthen partnerships with external entities that support our Extension, research and teaching missions to make sure we’re truly delivering the best we possibly can in all areas.”