Fredrick J. Babel papers

Fredrick (Fred) J. Babel was a scholar, teacher, mentor and outstanding researcher, and left a legacy of knowledge for researchers and management in the dairy food industry. Babel was born in Traverse City, Michigan, on October 22, 1911. He earned his B.S. degree in dairy manufacturing from Michigan State University in 1935. The following year he earned his Master of Science degree in dairy bacteriology from Purdue University. In 1939 he completed his PhD in dairy bacteriology from Iowa State College under the direction of B.W. Hammer. On June 5, 1939, Babel married (Emma)E. Marcella Ewing. Babel worked for the next two years as mandager of research and development and quality control for North American Creameries in North Dakota before returning to Iowa State as a senior research associate. In July 1947, Babel was appointed Professor of Dairy Bacteriology to the faculty of the Dairy Science Department at Purdue University. From 1947 until his retirement in 1978, Babel taught courses at Purdue in food and dairy microbiology and sanitation. He served as faculty advisor for more than 350 undergraduate students and major professor for 18 MS and 14 PhD degree students. As a researcher, he developed the Purdue Baby Swiss cheese which has been commercialized continually since the 1950s. He developed a specific cultured dressing for use on creamed cottage cheese that extends the shelf-life and adds flavor to the eating qualities of cottage cheese. He identified critical practices at the farm and handling practices in raw milk at the dairy plant that had an impact on quality and cheese yield. He characterized lactic culture behavior in cheeses and fermented milk. In 1957 he coauthored a textbook with B. W. Hammer entitled "Dairy Bacteriology" which remains today a useful reference throughout the dairy industry. His research on lactic cultures and phage led to the cheese industry practice of rotating starter cultures to prevent bacteriophage infections. In 1973 the American Dairy Science Association presented Babel with the ADSA Kraft Teaching Award. Babel was a professional member of the American Dairy Science Association, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the International Association of Milk,Food and Environmental Sanitarians. He was an honorary member of Phi Tau Sigma, Gamma Sigma Delta, Alpha Zeta, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi. He also served as Secretary of the Indianapolis Dairy Technology Society for 31 years. Babel was a retained consultant for Kraft Foods and Chr. Hansen's for a number of years and continued after his retirement. He consulted for a number of other national and international companies. Babel gave lectures and participated in seminars nationally and internationally. In his honor, Don and Zoe Mather of Mt. Prospect, Illinois, established the Fred J. Babel Food Science Scholarship 1994. Babel died on January 16, 1997, in Lafayette, Indiana.

Sources: Chambers, James V. "A Century of Dairy Science at Purdue University." ADSA Centennial Posters, American Dairy Science Association. /web.archive.org/web/20090327074129/http://www.adsa.org/centennial/posters/17684_purdue.pdf>

"Memorial." Journal of Dairy Science. Vol. 81 (1998): 1801-1802. /www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(98)90098-4/pdf>

Webb, Jesica E. "Purdue Launches $200 million Scholarship Campaign." Purdue News (April 3, 2003). /www.purdue.edu/uns/html3month/030403.Hall.scholarship.html>