CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – The American Dairy Science Association recently elected three new leaders for the organization’s 2022-23 term. Federico Harte was elected vice president, Rani Govindasamy-Lucey was elected director of the dairy foods division and Stephen LeBlanc was elected director of the production division.

The ADSA is an international organization of educators, scientists and industry representatives committed to advancing the dairy industry, with an emphasis on the role dairy sciences play in fulfilling the economic, nutritive and health requirements of the world's population.

Harte, a professor in Penn State University’s food science department, was elected for a one-year term. For more than a decade, Harte has researched developing functionality from milk proteins for food and pharmaceutical products, as well as using novel dairy processing technologies. His research has been published in the Journal of Dairy Science, and he was editor for the dairy foods section from 2016 to 2021. His instruction focuses on food engineering, dairy processing and food rheology.

An ASDA member since 2007, Harte also serves on the ASDA Foundation’s board of trustees.

He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Uruguay and a PhD in biological systems engineering from Washington State University.

A distinguished scientist at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research, Govindasamy-Lucey will serve a three-year term as the director of the ASDA’s dairy foods division. She joined the CDR in 1999 as a scientist and has worked since then on a wide range of cheese research topics for dairy companies and graduate student projects, securing more than $3 million in grants during that span.

Govindasamy-Lucey’s research through the years has explored new cheesemaking technologies, high-pressure processing and ultra-low, above freezing temperature storage for extending the shelf life of cheeses. Her work has helped US manufacturers export cheeses to overseas markets.

During her more than 20 years as an ASDA member, Govindasamy-Lucey has served in a number of roles, including as the chair of the organization’s dairy foods division council. She currently is vice chair of the ASDA’s overall program committee. Additionally, she serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Dairy Science and other dairy foods journals.

The Singapore native earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and a PhD in food technology from the National University of Singapore.

LeBlanc also was elected to a three-year term in his role as the director of the ASDA’s production division. A professor in the department of population medicine at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, LeBlanc also serves as director of Dairy at Guelph – The Centre for Dairy Research and Innovation. At the university, he teaches veterinary and agricultural students, provides clinical farm service and leads a dairy research program.

He researches dairy cow metabolic and reproductive health and management, as well as precision technologies and antimicrobial stewardship. LeBlanc has published more than 100 papers in the Journal of Dairy Science and recently concluded six years as a section and senior editor for the journal. He chaired the ASDA’s annual meeting reproduction committee and serves on the discover conferences steering committee.

Prior to his professional career, which began with five years of private dairy veterinary practice, LeBlanc earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from McGill University and a DVM and DVSc from the University of Guelph.