Dr. Todd R. Klaenhammer, Distinguished University Professor of Food Science, Microbiology and Genetics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N. C. State University, was honored May 8 with the O. Max Gardner Award — the most significant universitywide honor given to faculty by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.

An elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Klaenhammer studies genetic approaches to improving lactic acid bacteria, the “good” bacteria used as starter cultures and probiotics in fermented food and dairy products, like yogurt.

The award is presented each year to one faculty member from the system’s 17 campuses recognized as having “made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.”

— NCSU News Services