Baking&Snack - April 2013 - 32

R&D PERSPECTIVE
Theresa Cogswell
bakercogs@sbcglobal.net

Filling the
Leadership Need
With help from a generous foundation and industry,
the KSU Bakery Science program survives and thrives.
It could be a baker looking for a
well-rounded employee who understands P/L statements and business
law as well as the science and art of
baking. Or it could be an ingredient
supplier needing new product development professionals who know
their way around ingredient functionality and the inner workings of
the wholesale bakery. The employees needed to staff companies for
the baking and allied industries are
easier to define than they are to hire.
The beginning of the Bakery
Science and Management program at Kansas State University,
Manhattan, KS, started with a
similar discussion on well-trained,
promotable employees over cocktails at an industry conference.
Around 1960, a group of visionary bakery and allied leaders encouraged Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL, to start a college-

level program for students interested in bakery science and management as a career. Florida State
started a program that ran for several years, but it was not compatible
with their other programs.
Kansas State had a milling and
feed curriculum that was well known
throughout the milling and baking
industry, so the Florida State program transferred to Kansas State. A
group of bakers and allied personnel,
known as the Bakery Ambassadors,
was formed to help the transition.
Kansas State accepted the program
on the condition that the industry
would help recruit students and
add one staff member. The Bakery
Ambassadors assisted in funding the
additional staff member and set out
to raise an endowment to provide a
source of funds. The Bakers National
Education Foundation (BNEF) was
created to accept and administer

Number of Students

Kansas State Bakery Science Enrollment
Male
Female

•

‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12
Year
32

those funds. Seed money of $2 million was raised to start BNEF. These
visionaries helped move the Bakery
Science program to Kansas State
University in 1963.
Over the years, the program
has seen its ups and downs. At one
point, the numbers were so low
that the program was only graduating four to five students per year.
The low enrollment prompted conversations concerning the vitality
and support for the baking science
program. In 2005, Dave Krishock
joined the department as the BNEF
Professor. He possesses the valuable
combination of extensive industry
experience and passion for baking.
Prof. Krishock draws on these qualities as he recruits talented students.
The proof is in the numbers. In
2012, students in Bakery Science
have reached an all-time high of 75.
Graduates of the Bakery Science
program have the enviable situation
of multiple job offers. Even with the
increase in rates, bakery job market
demand is higher than the number
of graduates.
As Prof. Krishock continues to
recruit and educate future leaders of
the baking industry, BNEF works to
raise monies to fund the BNEF professor under the leadership of Ron
Zelch, board president, and John
DelCampo, treasurer.

/ Baking & Snack / April 2013

Editor’s note: To provide financial
donations to this program, contact
Theresa Cogswell, BNEF executive
director, at theresa@bakercogs.com
for information.

www.bakingandsnack.com

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Baking&Snack - April 2013

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