Appointment of Dr. David Kitts as Dean pro tem
August 26, 2024 – We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. David Kitts as Dean pro tem of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS), effective October 1, 2024.
Dr. Kitts is a food scientist who has served as the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems since 2012, and prior to that as Director for the Food, Nutrition and Health Program. His research is transdisciplinary, spanning food science, nutrition/dietetics, biochemistry and molecular biology. Over the past 40 years, he has contributed to the body of knowledge related to food chemistry, food toxicology and nutritional sciences, helping UBC grow to become a well-respected institution in food science. A major area of recent focus for Dr. Kitts is investigating how bioactive components contribute to intestinal health. His research also includes investigating how to stabilize food formulations, and characterize antioxidant capacities of various food components that can mitigate losses in food quality and safety.
As Associate Dean of Research, Dr. Kitts has been involved with colleagues in launching the new Food and Beverage Innovation Centre. Scheduled to open later this year, this will be the first centre in B.C. dedicated to ensuring food and beverage processors become more competitive globally by supporting industry training, and ensuring researchers and businesses collaborate to develop innovative and sustainable products, processing techniques, and packaging.
We are grateful to Dr. Kitts for his willingness to lead the Faculty while the search for the next Dean continues.
Dr. Rickey Yada’s term as Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems will conclude on September 30, 2024, and he will move to the University of Alberta where he will become Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences in October. Dr. Yada’s accomplishments during his term are many, with notable successes in research, education and community engagement. We are grateful for Dr. Yada’s leadership over the past 10 years — providing outstanding service to the LFS community of students, faculty and staff as Dean.