Postharvest Center Hires Executive Director from UFPA

Jim Gorny has been named executive director of the Postharvest Technology Research and Information Center at the University of California, Davis. He had been senior vice president of food safety and technology for United Fresh Produce Association. He starts his new position Aug. 1.

Gorny will work with Extension specialists and UC Davis faculty to help improve food safety throughout the distribution chain. The center works with other academic institutions, retail and foodservice organizations and trade associations to further food safety efforts.

He earned a doctorate in plant biology from UC Davis in 1995. Prior to joining United Fresh (then the International Fresh-cut Produce Association – IFPA), Gorny was a principal consultant with Davis Fresh Technologies.

David Gombas has been promoted to senior vice president of food safety and technology for United Fresh. He will oversee the association’s development and implementation of food safety, quality assurance, supply chain technology and food security programs, according to United Fresh.

Gombas has been with the association since 2005, when he joined IFPA as vice president of technical services.

Prior to IFPA, he was with the National Food Processors Association, where he served as vice president of laboratories for microbiology, chemistry and processing research and technical assistance in Washington, D.C. Gombas also served in the microbiology and food safety departments at Campbell Soup Co. and Kraft Foods. In 1993, he was research professor of food safety at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, working with FDA to develop HACCP training courses for federal investigators. He has a doctorate in food microbiology at University of Massachusetts.