UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has named six graduates as 2004 Outstanding Alumni and one as Outstanding Recent Alumnus. The award program was established to honor successful graduates and to provide alumni with opportunities to interact with students, faculty, staff and administrators.

Kamesh Ellajosyula, program manager for supply chain/global research and development for Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., has been selected as Outstanding Recent Alumnus. The recipient of several research awards while at Penn State, Ellajosyula developed methods for the destruction of gram-negative pathogens in fermented meats that were adopted by the fermented meats industry and incorporated in U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety regulations. Ellajosyula received a bachelor's degree from Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University in India in 1994 and a master's degree in food science from Penn State in 1998.

The 2004 Outstanding Alumni are:

-- Rumaldo Zapata Juarez, president of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Juarez has served as executive director of the University of Texas System's Texas-Mexico Border Health Coordination Office in Edinburg, Texas, and as co-project director of the Texas Consortium of Geriatric Education Centers at Pan American University. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology from Texas A&M, College Station before graduating from Penn State in 1976 with a doctorate in rural sociology.

-- George May, president and CEO of the Institute for Technology Development (ITD) in Stennis Space Center, Miss. May has created several companies that develop agricultural remote-sensing devices and techniques for corn, wheat, soybean and cotton production, as well as for food safety. His company developed satellites to serve the agricultural community with image-based crop management products. ITD also is applying crop stress and illness detection technologies to human diseases. May earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in agronomy from Penn State in 1971, 1973 and 1976, respectively.

-- Kenneth Smith, senior director for platform and product management patents for CNH (formerly Sperry New Holland) of New Holland, Pa. Smith holds three patents for hay-handling equipment design. He is a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He also has served on the executive board of the Penn State Quality & Manufacturing Management Program and the Penn State Agricultural & Biological Engineering IPAC Council. Smith earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from Penn State in 1967.

-- William Troxell, executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association and the Pennsylvania Marketing and Research program of Richfield, Pa. Troxell was instrumental in the tremendous growth of the vegetable growers' association. He helped build a vegetable marketing and research program that has awarded more than $300,000 in research grants. Troxell is the co-author of "Hydroponics: Not Just a Pipe Dream," and is a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Pennsylvania Alliance for Association Advancement. He earned a bachelor's degree from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture in 1979 and a master's degree in horticulture from Penn State in 1982.

-- Paul Wuest, professor emeritus of plant pathology at Penn State. Wuest has devoted much of his career to research and education for the Pennsylvania mushroom industry. He has written three books, 29 research publications and numerous extension publications, abstracts and videotapes, including a comprehensive mushroom production handbook. Wuest also managed and directed an integrated pest management program now in use in Europe, Asia and South America. He is a member of the American Phytopathological Society and the International Society of Mushroom Science. Wuest earned his bachelor's degree in horticulture and doctorate in plant pathology from Penn State in 1958 and 1963, respectively.

-- James Zallie, senior corporate vice president for Natural Polymers Group with the National Starch and Chemical Co. of Bridgewater, N.J. Zallie oversaw expansion of the company's specialty tapioca starch operations into the world's largest, with the first Western modified manufacturing facility in China. He is a member of the American Association of Cereal Chemists and the Institute of Food Technologists and previously chaired the institute's Subcommittee on New Products and Technologies. Zallie holds a bachelor's degree in food science from Penn State, a master's degree in food science from Rutgers University, and an M.B.A. in finance from Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

In conjunction with receiving the award, the recipients will return to Penn State's University Park campus for visits with students, faculty, staff and administrators.

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