Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
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Table of Contents HEADLINES Top Vision Credits
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Riceland’s McCaskill is 2006 Outstanding Alumnus Don McCaskill, BSA ’70 MS ’73, joined Riceland Foods in Stuttgart as Manager of Rice Research and Development in 1981, became Director of Research and Development with technical responsibility for all Riceland products in 1996, and was named Vice President for Research in 2001. As director of Riceland’s applied process and product development program and through his many other leadership roles, he has had a major impact on enhancing the value of Arkansas crops by further processing while also creating jobs and expanding payrolls in rural Arkansas. He was instrumental in development of a patented rice parboiling process; the creation of new rice-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products; and development of markets for rice bran oil. Mr. McCaskill has played a major role in directing Rice Foundation funding toward research into the relationship between genetics, cultural and climatic conditions, and rice cooking and processing quality. Most recently, he helped create a varietal screening program to assist rice breeders in selecting lines with improved marketability. As a University of Arkansas student, Mr. McCaskill developed leadership skills that have served him well. He was president of the Agricultural Students Association and received the ASA Senior Leadership Award. He was inducted into Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies and was named Outstanding Senior in Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. He helped organize the Bumpers College Alumni Society as a charter member of the Board of Directors. He has been a member of the Institute of Food Science and Engineering Advisory Board since its inception, was a member of the UA Department of Food Science External Review Team in 2003, and has served on the Agricultural Development Council. He has long served on the board of directors of the Ozark Food Processors Association and has been president and vice president twice. Mr. McCaskill is a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologists and is active in the American Association of Cereal Chemists International, American Oil Chemists Society, and the Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils. He has served in leadership roles for the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, Arkansas Biotechnology Association, National Food Processors Association, Riceland Foods Foundation Board of Directors and Grant Review Committee, USA Rice Federation Technology Task Force, and the 2001 Southern Governors Association Committee on Research, Development and Technology. He is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. Born and reared in rural Howard County near Dierks, Don met his wife of 36 years, Linda King McCaskill (BSE and Med from UA and JD from UALR), at the U of A. They have two daughters, Wynne McCaskill Waddell of Cave Springs and Ashlee McCaskill of Ithaca, NY, and one granddaughter, Emma Waddell of Cave Springs. |