Mindy Brashears, Ph.D.

Mindy Brashears is the former Under Secretary for Food Safety, and she served at the USDA from 2019 to 2021.  She is the Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at TTU, serves as a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor, and holds the Roth and Letch family Endowed Chair of Food Safety at Texas Tech University.  She holds a B.S. in Food Technology from Texas Tech University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science from Oklahoma State University.  Her research focuses on mitigation strategies in pre-harvest production and post-harvest processing environments to improve food safety and public health. She is on the National Academy of Inventors, the Board of Directors for the American Meat Science Association and the International Livestock Council.  She also serves on the academic advisory panel for the Protein Pact.  She was recently awarded the Graduate of Distinction Award by Oklahoma State University.  She has also received the IAFP Laboratorian Award, The AMSA Research and Industry/Extension Award and was named as a Future Icon in the Meat Industry by the National Provisioner. She writes a monthly blog for MeatingPlace magazine and advises the industry on food safety and regulatory issues.