AMI Foundation Names Former Tyson Scientist Ellis W. Brunton, Ph.D., Recipient of the 2006 Scientific Achievement Award

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Ellis W. Brunton, Ph.D., today was named recipient of the American Meat Institute (AMI) Foundation Scientific Achievement Award. The award was presented during the AMI Annual Convention and Innovation Showcase, October 4-6, 2006, in Hollywood, Fla.

Brunton recently retired after a 32-year career with Tyson Foods, Inc., where he was senior vice president of science and regulatory affairs. According to AMI Chairman Robert Manly, executive vice president of Smithfield Foods, Inc., “His efforts and their impact extend well beyond Tyson itself. Ellis has been a tireless advocate for public policies that have true food safety and public health impacts.”

Manly said an important example of his advocacy is the development of Tyson’s Sentinel Site Program. “Our industry faced a regulatory agency whose policies discouraged companies from aggressively looking for Listeria in the environment because when they found it, they were penalized,” Manly said. “Through his persuasion, USDA came to agree that a system that encouraged companies to look for the pathogen so that it might be destroyed and prevented in the future was a far more promising approach. Now, that same approach has been applied to E. coli prevention and its impact continues.”

Brunton has served on numerous academic and industry committees. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Food Safety Consortium at the University of Arkansas, Iowa State University and Kansas State University. He has served on the Burger King Animal Welfare Council and AMI’s own Scientific Advisory Committee.

“Perhaps John Tyson said it best in his nomination,” according to Manly. “Dr. Brunton has been a visionary grounded in reality.”

Brunton attended the University of Missouri Columbia, where he received a B.S. in 1966, M.S. in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1972, in the area pathology program, specializing in analytical chemistry. He also attended the Harvard University School of Business Administration and completed the Program for Management Development in 1987.