Baking & Snack - February 2016 - 38

2016 BAKING HALL OF FAME

Educator and

Promoter

Through trial and triumph, John Shellenberger led Kansas State
University into its bakery science and management program.
by Laurie Gorton
Would the milling and baking industries
be different today without the influence of
John Shellenberger? Assuredly, yes. He was
a natural leader, an educator who strongly
promoted the industries his students entered. Throughout his life, he embodied the
vigorous application of scientific methods
that transformed American agriculture and the
milling and baking industries in particular.
From 1944 to 1966, John A. Shellenberger, PhD
(1900-87), served as head of Kansas State University
(KSU)'s Department of Flour and Feed Milling (later
named the School of Grain Science and Industry). It was
an era of tremendous change. During his tenure, he built
the world's leading university program in milling and
baking by using his education, administrative ability and
extensive industry connections - accomplishments that
now lead to his induction into the class of 2016 of the
Baking Hall of Fame.
Dr. Shellenberger guided the school through trial and
triumph. After the 1957 fire that destroyed its facility, he
pushed through construction of a new building, dedicated
in 1961 and named in his honor in 1970. He remained active as a distinguished professor emeritus until his death.
In 1963, working with industry and academia, Dr.
Shellenberger brought the bakery science and management program to KSU. Florida State University first established the course, but as Theresa Cogswell, principal,
BakerCogs, and Baking & Snack contributing editor, noted
in nominating him, "That school came to believe it was
not a fit for their university, and [university-level bakery
science education] may have just gone away without Dr.
Shellenberger's intervention."
He earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering
from the University of Washington, his masters in milling

38 Baking & Snack February 2016 / www.bakingandsnack.com

technology from KSU and his doctorate in agriculture biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. He worked at
Fisher Flour Mills during college and then became an assistant agricultural chemist at the University of Idaho. After
receiving his PhD, he took a position at Mennel Milling
Co., where a mutual friend introduced him to his future
wife, Annabel. Dr. Shellenberger joined KSU in 1944 as
head of its milling school.
According to Paul A. Seib, PhD, KSU emeritus professor
of baking science, Dr. Shellenberger often remarked about
the high cost of doing engineering and process research on
grains via pilot plants vs. the relatively low cost of doing
chemical research on grains.
Dr. Shellenberger's academic work as a cereal scientist focused on hard winter wheat's milling and baking
quality, emphasizing protein's contribution. He received
several awards, including the Association of Operative
Millers' Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to milling technology, the Neumann Medal from the Association
of Cereal Research, the Outstanding Achievement Gold
Medal from the University of Minnesota and the C.H.
Bailey Award from the International Association of Cereal
Chemists. KSU presented him with two distinguished
alumni medals.
His capable management of the department was recalled by R. Carl Hoseney, PhD, president, R&R Research
Services, and KSU emeritus professor of bakery science,
which he experienced as an undergraduate during Dr.
Shellenberger's tenure. "He was very authoritative and ran
the department well," Dr. Hoseney recalled.
"The milling and baking industries saw him as a strong
influence," Dr. Hoseney continued, "and his legacy is that
he brought recognition to the importance of these industries. The milling and baking industries would be far different places without him."

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Baking & Snack - February 2016

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