UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- As Coach Joe Paterno celebrated his 324th win as football coach, fellow educator Dr. Phil Keeney prepared to participate for the 50th year in the nation's oldest, best-known and largest educational program on ice cream manufacturing.

Now entering its 110th year, the course directed by Bob Roberts, associate professor of food science in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, runs Jan. 7-17 at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. According to Roberts, attendees will get a wealth of knowledge from food science faculty and experts in the industry.

Among those experts are Penn State food science professor emeritus Keeney, who served as director of the course from 1955 to 1985, and who continues to serve as a course instructor and a consultant for ice cream companies around the world.

During the 50 years of teaching this course, he has taught over 4,200 students from 60 countries and 48 states.

The program instructs professionals in all aspects of commercial ice cream manufacture, including ingredients and flavors, freezing/hardening and storage/distribution. This year's course also features lessons on common defects in ice cream, computerized mix formulations, laboratory exercises in Borland Laboratory and a tour of University Creamery operations.

The course will explore systems for making better-quality frozen desserts, including microbiology and quality testing, nutrition and additives, and hazard analysis at critical control points techniques. Roberts says the course, while highly technical, has something for everyone.

"What a student takes away from the course depends on what they start with," he explains. "People in production may glean a better understanding of why their efforts result in a good or poor finished product.

"People in research and development will get new ideas on how ingredients interact," adds Roberts. "The 'mom-and pop' operator will learn a lot about how product is formulated and the functional properties of ice cream. And our instructors are able to communicate effectively to this broad audience."

One of the best instructors is Keeney, former head of the food science department at Penn State. He is also known for his development of world-class chocolate and ice cream research programs. His continued support of the university during retirement also includes assisting with the fund-raising efforts to raise $26 million to support the building of the new Creamery and Food Science Department building slated for 2005 on the University Park campus.

Keeney, known for his sense of humor in the classroom, begins his presentation with a dated photo from the early 1960's of a beautiful blonde woman holding an ice cream cone, noting his timeless love affair with... ice cream. The romance has continued, he says, "from his high school graduation night celebration with a milkshake to the 110th Ice Cream Short Course awards banquet celebration."

As present director, Roberts pays tribute to Keeney. "Phil has been integral to the success of the short course," he says, "the food science department and Penn State by being such a dedicated faculty member, mentor, humanitarian and ambassador."

Keeney is one of the three Penn State educators to share the notoriety of having a Penn State ice cream flavor named in his honor -- Keeney Beany. He shares the glory with just two other educators honored with flavors (Joe Paterno -- Peachy Paterno, and John Almquist -- Cherry Quist).

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EDITORS: For more information on the short course, call 814-865-8301, or visit the Web site at http://conferences.cas.psu.edu.

Contact:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax