Mindy Brashears, director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University, formerly served as the under secretary for food safety. From 2019-2021, Brashears led the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service. She was instrumental in managing the food supply chain during the pandemic, and she is credited for multiple events, such as the Swine Inspection Modernization and Egg Inspection Modernization, during her time at FSIS. While leading the organization, she created a graduate fellowship for students in food safety, which supports FSIS priority research.
Now at Texas Tech, Brashears also works as a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor, holding the Roth and Letch Family Endowed Chair for Food Safety. At Texas Tech, Brashears focuses on food safety and public health for pre-harvest and post-harvest production. In addition to her roles at Texas Tech, Brashears, serves on the Board of Directors for the International Stockman’s Education Foundation, as a Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors, on the Development Council for the American Meat Science Association and on the Academic Advisory panel for the Protein Pact.
A career highlight for Brashears back to her first day on the job at FSIS, where she faced the largest E. coli O157:H7 recall in history at that time. The recall and its aftermath set the path for her food safety research moving forward.
Brashears is an active advocate for women in the meat industry, creating and moderating the “Pink Ribbon Food Safety Task Force,” a Facebook page focused on women in food safety.
Looking back on her career, Brashears is most proud of her students. She is proud of seeing the knowledge passed down through her students, and believes that to be her greatest accomplishment.
The National Provisioner invites all meat and poultry industry professionals to join us in honoring Mindy Brashears.
