Dr. George Baker received both his B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Food Science. His graduate specializations included storage water activity studies, flavor compound formation under different roasting conditions, sensory analysis, including trained quantitative descriptive analysis panels, and instrumental analysis of fats and oils. Dr. Baker held a variety of positions at ABC Research Corporation, a contract food testing laboratory, holding Director of Laboratory Operations, VP of Sales & Marketing, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer positions. Following his tenure at ABC Research Corporation, he joined the faculty in the Food Science & Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida, studying palm oil flavor and function to replace trans- fats in foods, and later as the Florida Sea Grant Seafood Specialist, where he provided assistance to the seafood industry and researched key aroma compound training methods associated with seafood quality.

Dr. Baker is certified to teach Seafood HACCP and Sanitation Control Procedures courses and was recently the Institute of Food Technologist’s Aquatic Food Products Division Chair. For the last few years, he worked in food manufacturing as the Director of Food Safety & Quality, as well as the SQF Practitioner and PCQI for two food production facilities with multiple production lines. He also directed substantial changes to the Environmental Monitoring Program and microbiological testing programs. In his role as Director of New Product Development, he was responsible for updated sensory testing / shelf-life determination procedures and problem-solving projects. Dr. Baker joined IEH in 2020.