Recognizing and Rewarding Members
Awards
C. Earl Gray
Award of Merit
The C. Earl Gray Award of Merit is bestowed upon individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the dairy products industry. Anyone may be nominated regardless of nationality or role within the industry, including manufacturing, marketing, R&D, academia, regulatory, equipment manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, etc.
ADPI will accept nominations for the 2024 C. Earl Gray Award of Merit starting in January 2024.. This award, established in 1992 has now been renamed in honor of Chester Earl Gray, a pioneering founder of one of ADPI’s legacy organizations. This award is presented annually at the ADPI/ABI Annual Conference, which will be held April 26-28, 2024 in Chicago.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Award of Merit. For a nomination form, please email Beth Holcomb. Nominations should be completed by March 15, 2024.
- 1992 – M.E. “Mel” Franks (posthumously)
- 1993 – William F. Dietrich & Nico van Zwanenberg
- 1994 – Harvey H. Ebert
- 1995 – Wesley E. Eckert
- 1996 – William A. Diehl
- 1997 – Donald C. Storhoff & Robert E. Vaughn
- 1998 – Lyle Brenne
- 1999 – Larry L. Claypool
- 2000 – Mark Davis & A. Kent Keller
- 2001 – H. Jack Pollei & A. Marriott Walker (posthumously)
- 2002 – Warren Clark
- 2003 – Harlan Mammen
- 2004 – Bernard S. Horton
- 2005 – William J. Merrick, III
- 2006 – Bobby L. Hall
- 2007 – John Burke
- 2008 – John Whetten
- 2009 – Lee Blakely
- 2010 – George E. Hutson
- 2011 – Diane D. Lewis
- 2012 – Joseph A. O’Donnell
- 2013 – Phillip S. Tong
- 2014 – Jerry Kozak
- 2015 – Rick Kaepernick
- 2016 – Richard Stammer
- 2017 – Tom Suber
- 2018 – Dave Barbano
- 2019 – Barney Krueger
- 2020 – David Thomas
- 2021 – Jerry O’Dea
- 2022 – Dr. MaryAnne Drake
- 2023 – Richard Bradfield
- 2024 – Doug Wilke
Breakthrough Award for Dairy Ingredient Innovation
Awarded by Dairy Foods in cooperation with the American Dairy Products Institute to honor achievements by dairy processing members of the American Dairy Products Institute. Entrants MUST be members of ADPI to enter.
Innovation Categories include:
- Milk-Derived or Whey-Derived Dairy Ingredients
- Processing or Packaging of Dairy Ingredients
- Breakthroughs in R&D or Quality Assurance of Dairy Ingredients
- Marketing of a Dairy Ingredient
- Tool or System to be Used for Dairy Ingredients
The 2024 Award was announced at the ADPI/ABI Annual Conference on April 29, 2024. Read about this year’s winner, Idaho Milk Products.
- 2017 – Agropur
- 2018 – Lone Star Dairy Products and Caloris Engineering
- 2019 – California Dairies, Inc.
- 2020 – Milk Specialties Global
- 2021 – Eurofins DQCI and GoodSport Nutrition
- 2022 – Arla Foods Ingredients
- 2023 – Hydro-Thermal
- 2024 – Idaho Milk Products
Scholarships
ADPI offers scholarship opportunities for students who are one or more of the following: attending a university that is an ADPI Academic Institution member; a dependent of an employer whose company is a member of ADPI; or is an employee of an ADPI member company.
Scholarships recipients are announced at the ADPI/ABI Annual Conference in April each year, and receive a check made payable to the school they are currently attending. Each scholarship is a grant to be used towards educational expenses that a student may have in furthering his/her education (including but not limited to tuition, books, room & board, etc.).
Questions can be directed to KJ Burrington at kburrington@adpi.org.
Scholarship Applications
Applicants of an ADPI Scholarship are one of the following:
- Attending a university that is an ADPI Academic Institution member; or
- A dependent of an employee of an ADPI member company; or
- An employee of an ADPI member company.
Applicants must be currently enrolled in either a two-year or four-year, nationally accredited college or university, pursuing a course of study that will lead to a bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science, Business, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Food Manufacturing/Processing or similar programs related to the dairy ingredients industry. Applicants must have completed at least one full semester (or the equivalent thereof) and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a standard 4.0 scale.
All qualified persons who submit an applicant form will be eligible for the scholarship regardless of gender, race, creed, color or nationality.
For 2025
Applications for the annual Scholarship program are typically due at the end of January.
Scholarship recipients will be announced each year at the ADPI/ABI Annual Conference in April.
Jim Page Memorial Scholarship
The ADPI Jim Page Memorial Scholarship was created in memory of James J. Page who enjoyed a distinguished marketing career in the dairy industry and demonstrated exceptional leadership skills while serving as the Chief Executive Officer of ADPI from 2002 through 2008.
2009 – Chelsie Reinwand (Foremost Farms)
2010 – Cassie Tegeler (Swiss Valley Farms)
2011 – Alesha Radke (Ellsworth Coop. Creamery)
2012 – Elina Vatnikova (Agri-Mark)
2012 – Daniel Nunes (Leprino Foods)
2013 – Amanda Keenan (Leprino Foods)
2013 – Emily Schlein (Swiss Valley Farms)
2014 – Sarah Post (AMPI)
2014 – Michael Azevedo (Hilmar Cheese Company)
2015 – Lauren Sipple (Agropur)
2015 – Charley Bill (Foremost Farms)
2016 – Phuoc Ly (Leprino Foods)
2016 – Sarah Post (Grande Cheese)
2017 – Emma Jordenson (AMPI)
2017 – Justin Spies (Land O’Lakes)
2018 – Jennifer Moehring (Sargento Foods)
2018 – Brandon Carter (Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center)
2018 – Adiar Pech (Agropur)
2019 – Bailey Larson (AMPI)
2019 – Mackenzie Hanisch (Milk Specialties Global)
2020 – Hollie Maccabee (Idaho Milk Products)
2020 – Clare Sipple (Agropur)
2021 – Yasmira Alvarez (Valley Milk)
2021 – Mary Greer (International Ingredients Corp)
2021 – Lydia Rockers (Dairy Farmers of America)
2022 – Lara Maccabee (Idaho Milk Products)
2022 – Bailee Aisenbray (Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery)
2023 – Olivia Adams (University of Wisconsin-Platteville)
2023 – Hayden Metzger (Oregon State University)
2023 – Rainna Simone (University of Wisconsin-River Falls)
2024 – Danielle Mauhar (Chr Hansen)
2024 – Aidan Ainslie (Cornell University)
Phillip Tong Educational Scholarship
The Phillip Tong Educational Scholarship was established in 2022 in honor of Phillip Tong, PhD, who served as ADPI’s Director of Dairy Science, Education, Research from 2016 to 2021. This annual scholarship endowed by ADPI is in recognition of Dr. Tong’s contributions to the Training, Education, and Development of people in the dairy industry and most recently within the scope of Dairy Science & Technology realm and the domain of ADPI member companies, their employees, and/or members of employee families.
2022 – Dina Graves (Dairy Research Center/DMI)
2022 – Claire Sipple (Agropur, Inc.)
2023 – Ella Martin (Kansas State University)
2023 – Erin Martin (Kansas State University)
2024 – Kylie Konyn (University of Madison-Wisconsin)
2024 – Megan Rupp (Brigham Young University – Idaho)
2024 – Megan Ratka (Proliant Dairy Ingredients)
