Executive Director, NC Food Innovation Lab. Bill has led the NCFIL since it was a mere seedling of a facility in 2018. One of the most experienced food scientists in the US, he has held several research and operations leadership and management positions for companies such as Cargill, Inc., Land O’Lakes and Kerry Ingredients. An Indiana native, Bill received a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science at Purdue University and graduate degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the Food Science Department. He is an IFT Fellow, a Fellow of the American Dairy Science Association and a Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus from both Virginia Tech and Purdue University. Bill also serves on industry advisory committees for Agricultural Engineering (Penn State University), Food Science (Virginia Tech University), the Agriculture Innovation Forum (Larta), and the University of Illinois’ Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory.