When Kikkoman wanted to establish a naturally brewed soy sauce plant in Walworth, Wisconsin—an operation that was to become the world’s largest—the company had a top-notch consultant at CALS to help them out.

That expert was professor Edwin “Mike” Foster, a noted bacteriologist who was the first director of the Food Research Institute (FRI) and the person responsible for FRI moving to UW–Madison from the University of Chicago in 1966.

“Mike was invaluable in offering guidance on how to address and validate regulatory issues related to the safety of soy sauce as Kikkoman went through the process of gaining FDA approval,” says FRI director Charles Czuprynski. Over the years UW–Madison has continued to play a role in testing potential new uses of sauce and products derived in the fermentation process, he notes.

Out of long-standing gratitude, the Kikkoman Foods Foundation has named a new scholarship fund in Foster’s honor. The “Kikkoman Scholarship in Honor of Dr. Edwin (Mike) Foster,” as it is called, will be awarded by the FRI each year “to a deserving undergraduate student with a demonstrated interest in food microbiology and food safety,” says Czuprynski. The award amount will be in the range of $1,000 to $1,200.

Czuprynski regards the Kikkoman plant as a remarkable Wisconsin success story—and a tribute to Kikkoman’s long-range leadership vision, supportive relationship with their workers and cooperation with local businesses and communities. “This scholarship is just one example of their generous support of UW–Madison and the UW System,” Czuprynski says.

The UW Foundation maintains more than 6,000 gift funds that provide critical resources for the educational and research activities of CALS.

Contributions to the Kikkoman Scholarship in Honor of Dr. Edwin (Mike) Foster fund are welcome at http://go.wisc.edu/08c3m5.

If you wish to establish your own scholarship fund, contact Sara Anderson at the University of Wisconsin Foundation, sara.anderson@supportuw.org, (608) 263-9537.

To make a more general contribution to scholarships at CALS, visit the Agricultural and Life Sciences Scholarship Fund at http://go.wisc.edu/3q63sr.

This article was posted in Communities, Fall 2013, Food Systems, Next Steps and tagged Bacteriology, CALS, Charles Czuprynski, Food and drink, food safety, Food Systems, Kikkoman Scholarship, Scholarships.