Academics | Extension | Research

Dr. Liangli (Lucy) Yu joined the Nutrition and Food Science (NFSC) Department Faculty in 2003 and since that time has developed three new courses: NFSC 678G – Nutraceutical and Nutritional Chemistry and NFSC 678C – Food Safety Chemistry – both at the graduate level. Food Safety Chemistry is a new course that has not been offered in any graduate or undergraduate program worldwide. Additionally, she developed and taught NFSC 423 – Food Chemistry Laboratory (an undergraduate course) immediately after her arrival at the University of Maryland. She developed all laboratory manuals and lecture contents as she taught the course.

With colleagues she also developed NFSC 112 – Food Science and Technology for undergraduates and has taught the Food Chemistry section of the course. This is the second largest course taught in the NFSC department with an average enrollment of 70. Dr. Yu reorganized the course to accommodate students coming with different chemistry backgrounds so that all feel comfortable, yet challenged with the material.

Dr. Yu creates an interactive atmosphere that encourages students to think and develop their analytical skills. In NFSC 423 she uses numerous practical cases to motivate and encourage students to participate in analyzing problems and developing solutions. Students are excited about applying knowledge from other classes such as organic chemistry, microbiology, and food science to the case studies. She received a 4.92 on a scale of 5 on her teaching evaluations on this course.

Dr. Yu has been very successful in recruiting Ph.D. students into the program at Maryland. Her graduate students have received many awards as well as landing positions at top-ranked universities across the country.

Dr. Yu has also provided excellent research opportunities for undergraduate students. Some of these students have gotten excited about research and pursued graduate school, and published and received patents with Dr. Yu.

Beyond the University of Maryland Dr. Yu is very involved in professional and community services. She is the membership chair for the Agriculture and Food Chemistry Division at the American Chemical Society. She has co-organized numerous symposia including “Nutrition and Sensory Quality of Nuts” for the 2006 ACS meetings. She also is a reviewer for top journals in her field including the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.