James Dickson, professor in animal science, is the recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Achievement in International Agriculture Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Dickson is involved in research, teaching and outreach and has been actively engaged in international service for more than 20 years.
In the late 1990s, the United States had just made the first significant change in meat and poultry inspection in almost 100 years. Dickson was part of a team, sponsored by the U.S. Meat Export Federation, to teach the new inspection system and its impact on food safety in Japan. In the mid-2000s, Dickson made several trips to Russia to discuss U.S. poultry products and to compare the Russian and U.S. official analytical methods for salmonella in poultry. In the late 2000s, Dickson was contacted by the National Pork Producers Council to analyze and interpret various proposals to the World Trade Organization being made by countries, which would potentially impact the ability of the U.S. to export to those countries.
Dickson has served on two World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization Joint Expert Microbial Risk Assessment panels relating to salmonella in meat (Rome) and poultry (Geneva). He chairs the U.S. delegation for the International Standards Organization for the food safety standards. Dickson is responsible for coordinating the U.S. comments and voting on behalf of the United States.
“What sets him apart from others is his leadership in several organizations that have true global impact, such as the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, Institute of Food Technologists and International Standards Organization,” states a colleague. “His contributions to these organizations have broad and significant impact not only in the countries where he was physically present, but also in countries whose representatives he has trained in various workshops and meetings.”