IIT VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR
FOOD SAFETY AND HEALTH
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., is IIT Vice President and Director of the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) at the Illinois Institute of Technology, formerly the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST).   After joining NCFST in July 2010, Dr. Brackett was responsible for transitioning NCFST to a principal operating unit within the newly formed Institute, which officially launched in April 2011.

With nearly 30 years of experience in scientific research in industry, government and academia, Dr. Brackett most recently served as senior vice president and chief science and regulatory officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), a position he held since 2007.  Prior to his position at GMA, he worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FDA CFSAN), where he started as a senior microbiologist in the Office of Plant and Dairy Foods and Beverages in 2000.  After several promotions, Dr. Brackett was appointed CFSAN Director, where from 2004-2007 he provided executive leadership to CFSAN’s development and implementation of programs and policies relative to the composition, quality, safety and labeling of foods, food and color additives, dietary supplements and cosmetics. Earlier in his career, Dr. Brackett held professorial positions with North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and the University of Georgia in both its Department of Food Science and Technology and the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement.

Dr. Brackett is a fellow in the International Association for Food Protection and American Academy of Microbiology and a member of the International Association for Food Protection, Institute of Food Technologists, and the American Society for Microbiology. He has been honored with the FDA Award of Merit, the International Association for Food Protection’s President’s Appreciation Award, and most recently, the William C. Frazier Food Microbiology Award.  Dr. Brackett received his doctorate in food microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.