Hao Feng, Ph.D., has joined the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences as N.C. A&T’s first Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Endowed Professor of Urban Food Systems.
“The goal (of this position) is to establish a system to address the food insecurity issue in an urban area, such as this town, or in the state as a whole,” said Feng. “It’s a critically important issue. I want to establish an urban food system here on this campus so that we can make an impact on the local residents and farmers by working with faculty, students and the community. I think it will be a rewarding experience.”
According to Feng North Carolina has the tenth highest rate of food insecurity in the nation; likewise, statistics from national nonprofit food bank network Feeding America indicate approximately 1.3 million citizens in the state are without enough food to eat. Guilford County has a 13.9% food insecurity rate.
"This endowed professorship will play a vital role at the university and across the state,” said Dean Mohamed Ahmedna. “Dr. Feng's exceptional academic and professional background in food engineering will help build our food-systems research, and will also build the partnerships we’ll need to combat food insecurity statewide.”
In his new role, Feng will work closely with Chyi Lyi (Kathleen) Liang, Ph.D., the W. K. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Agriculture; and Shengmin Sang, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Functional Foods and Human Health. The endowed professorship is the college’s third named professorship.
In what he calls a “technology-driven approach,” Feng plans to work to develop low-cost methods that can help small homeowners, landowners and farmers increase food production.
“Technology is the backbone of this project, but education is one of its pillars,” said Feng. “It’s key to this success. We need to teach the people how to produce the product and work through a lot of issues, such as quality, safety and supply chain.”
Feng will use the college’s Urban and Community Food Complex, a planned 17,000 square-foot building on the University Farm with research and laboratory space, a small business incubator and a demonstration dairy, to hold workshops and demonstrations. Construction on the building is set to begin in 2023.
The endowment is also a continuation of the college’s relationship with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of N.C. Earlier this year, the insurer made a $450,000 donation to the university’s Foundation for the benefit of the college’s human lactation program.
“We know the health of our state depends on the health of all our communities – and this statewide effort helps get resources into the hands of those who can make an impact,” said Cheryl Parquet, Director of Community Engagement and Marketing Activation at Blue Cross N.C., at that time. “We’re proud to support deserving organizations who are on the ground creating culturally relevant solutions and supporting better and more equitable access to health care.”
A graduate of Dalian University of Technology in China, Feng received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in chemical engineering in 1982 and a masters in 1987. He received his Ph.D. in food engineering from Washington State University in 2000.
Before coming to N.C. A&T, Feng worked as a professor of food and bioprocess engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From 2020 to 2022, he was site lead at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Science Foundation’s AI Institute for Next-Generation Food Systems. He was also the site director at the Center for Advanced Research in Drying, an industry-university Cooperative Research Center of the National Science Foundation, from 2016 to 2022.
In 2021, Feng received the Senior Faculty Award for Excellence in Research by the University of Illinois’ College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and the Institute of Food Technologists’ Outstanding Service Award in the Food Engineering Division. He has been awarded $35.9 million in grant funds as a principal or co-principal investigator, including two grants from the NSF’s Cooperative Research Center; the NSF-USDA AI Center Award; and two grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
