Rate My Professor Wan-Yuan Kuo

Wan-Yuan Kuo is an Associate Professor of food science in the Department of Food Systems, Nutrition, and Kinesiology within the College of Education, Health and Human Development at Montana State University. She serves as Director of the Food Product Development Lab, leading research and development efforts involving graduate and undergraduate students. Kuo earned her Ph.D. in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016, along with M.S. and B.S. degrees in Agricultural Chemistry from National Taiwan University. Her career at Montana State University has progressed from assistant professor to associate professor, focusing on innovative food technologies and community-engaged projects.

Kuo's research specializations center on sustainable food product development, creating products that are healthy for humans and the environment by sourcing local, specialty, and Indigenous crops to produce nutritious, palatable, and culturally responsive foods. Key lab projects include fermentation processes for nutritious beverages benefiting rural communities in Senegal through the PATH program, high-tech food extrusion using Montana-grown lentils to develop puffs and meat analogs, and value-added processing for small fruits and berries in the Intermountain West. She actively works on decolonizing, indigenizing, and internationalizing food and nutrition curricula. Kuo has delivered public lectures such as "Indigenizing Food Science for Food Sovereignty" in the MSU Honors Presents series and holds leadership positions, including association with the Center for Science, Technology, Ethics and Society. Among her honors are the Montana University System Teaching Scholar award in 2020, selection as a Faculty for the Future Fellow, and recognition as a recipient of the New Innovator in Food and Agriculture Research Award. Selected key publications include "Twelve Weeks of Daily Lentil Consumption Improves Fasting Cholesterol and Postprandial Glycemic Response in Adults with Prediabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial" (2024), "The need and development for a value-added toolkit—A case study with Montana specialty fruit growers" (Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2023), "Identifying sensory drivers of liking for plant-based milk coffees" (Journal of Food Science, 2022), and "Developing culturally acceptable peanut nutrition bars to empower smallholder women farmers in Senegal" (2022). Her contributions advance food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and global nutrition innovation through collaborations with Indigenous communities, international partners, and local growers.