United Dairy

David Sparks Ph.D.

Dairymen of Idaho as the new vice president of industry

relations. He will serve as a vital link between Idaho's dairy farm

families, dairy food processors and regional research universities.

"Eric brings an unmatched passion for the importance of product

innovation and research to the success of dairy food and ingredient

sales," United Dairymen of Idaho CEO Karianne Fallow noted. "His

experience and expertise in dairy food science and his knowledge of

dairy food processing and university research systems will complement

our goals of inspiring trust and building demand for the dairy

industry."

Before joining United Dairymen of Idaho, Dr. Bastian served as vice

president of research and development for Glanbia Nutritionals and

Glanbia Foods where he built a world-class team of dairy food

researchers and innovation experts. Prior to his role at Glanbia, Dr.

Bastian was instrumental in building the Midwest Dairy Research Center

at the University of Minnesota, where he started in a faculty position

in the department of food science and nutrition and, for six years,

led a research team focused on milk protein and enzyme chemistry,

processed cheese functionality and milk protein fractionation.

Dr. Bastian was born in central Utah and raised on a dairy farm. He

earned a bachelor's degree in dairy science and master's and doctorate

degrees in nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University. He

spent one year as a research fellow with the Danish Government

Research Institute for the Dairy Industry in Hillerod, Denmark.

Subsequently, he returned to post-doctoral work at Utah State

University, which he completed in 1992.

"I am passionate about dairy food science, product innovation and

building a strong, sustainable workforce of future dairy scientists in

the Northwest," Bastian said. "By working directly for our dairy farm

families, I can correlate their investment in research with real

results that bring them value."