Kalidas Shetty

Professor Kalidas Shetty of University of Massachusetts, is among five recipients of the first Jefferson Science Fellowship announced by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

At a reception in their honor, Powell congratulated the winners of this new prestigious fellowship. Dr. Kalidas Shetty, Associate Professor of Food Science at Umass, Amherst, as well as Dr. Julian Adams from the University of Michigan, Dr. Bruce Averill from the University of Toledo, Dr. Melba Crawford from the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. David Easton from the University of California at Riverside, were feted by the State Department's Benjamin Franklin Room.

“The dynamic spirit of science and its search for new ideas has animated America since its earliest days,” Powell said, adding: “The United States itself was an experiment in political science, an unprecedented experiment in liberty and in self-government.”

The fellowship program, Powell said, “gives the State Department the opportunity to benefit from the counsel and expertise of tenured academic scientists,” but also the scientists will benefit from observing the day-to-day working of American foreign policy, an experience they will take back to the classroom.

Shetty is a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho, and had his postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Agro-Biological Research, Japan, and the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He holds at least four patents and has been editor of several reputed agricultural publications.

Research in his laboratory focuses on molecular physiology of secondary metabolite synthesis in plants. His articles and research have been published in many journals. He has also received several awards.