NDSU has named Paul Schwarz as director of the university’s food safety program. Schwarz will administer the interdisciplinary graduate food safety program and chair the steering committee that directs curriculum, course scheduling, student recruitment and admissions.

Schwarz joined NDSU as a research associate in cereal and food sciences in 1988. He has held roles as assistant and associate professor of cereal and food sciences, associate professor of plant sciences and most recently as professor in plant sciences. 

Schwarz’s research relates to biochemistry of malting and brewing and he is recognized as a principle expert in the field. He recently made invited presentations at the the National Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, D.C., and the International Symposium on Fusarium Head Blight in Nanjing, China. 

He is a member of the American Society of Agronomy, the American Society of Brewing Chemists, the Brewers Association, the American Chemical Society, International Association for Food Protection and the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.

Schwarz earned a doctorate in cereal science from NDSU in 1987, a master’s degree in cereal chemistry from NDSU in 1983 and a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the University of Wisconsin.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.