Obituary
Obituary: Professor Emerita Mary Davidson Earle OBE BSc, PhD Glas., HonDSc Khon Kaen, HonFNZIFST, HonFEngNZ, HonDSc Massey University Her students called her Dr Mary All those who studied with Dr Mary Earle remember her with deep fondness, for her genuine love of all her students, of her subjects, which she taught with passion, and her perception of the bigger picture, that she was teaching them not how to design an experiment, but how to solve a puzzle, or a problem. Over the years, she has frequently said (in paraphrase), “Whether my students had careers in food technology, or ran a business making widgets, or took up website design, they all were educated to think, and how to find answers, and those are the basics of success.” Through her years at Massey University Dr Mary, as she was known, was constantly engaged with the food industry. She graduated B.Sc, Ph.D. from Glasgow University after studying Applied Chemistry and Food Science at the Royal Technical College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She worked firstly as Assistant lecturer in the Scottish School of Bakery, then for five years in product development with Unilever (Colworth) and Cerebos (Colinton, Edinburgh) and, before joining Massey University, four years at the Meat Industry Research Institute of New Zealand, introducing product development to the New Zealand meat industry. This experience was the basis for introducing Product Development (PD) to the Food Technology degree at Massey University in 1966, with two Thai students, Patchree Chittaporn and Montharop Smitanananda. This grew into a PD option in the Food Technology degree, a multidisciplinary course including knowledge of products, processing, marketing and consumers. The final year students undertook PD projects in co-operation with food companies, a custom which continues across all Massey Technology fields. The aims of the PD option were knowledge, problem solving skills and creativity. Later, postgraduate studies in PD were introduced. The NZIFST was one of Mary’s passions. From drafting and ensuring the adoption of the Institute’s first Code of Ethics in 1969, to supporting the Foodwatch and Careers programmes of the 1980s, and as the instigator of the Food Awards, recognising excellence in New Product Development, Mary actively participated in NZIFST matters throughout her life. The Institute recognised her contribution in 1973, when she was made a Fellow, and in 1979 when she was the recipient of the J C Andrews Award. In 1994 she was made an Honorary Fellow of NZIFST and in the same year Massey University awarded her a personal chair in recognition of an outstanding career in the Faculty of Technology. In 2018 Massey University made her and her husband, Professor Dick Earle, Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa). During all her years at Massey, Mary was involved with the food industry; first in the development of the Quality Bakers concept with a group of independent bakers which involved innovation in products, processing, marketing and finance. [My final year PD project, in 1974, was with Quality Bakers (Ed)]. She then worked with the Food Technology Research Centre in the early development of new industries such as macadamia nuts, oyster farming, hoki and orange roughy 4
Food New Zealand
Mary in 1982 and (right) in 2000 at a meeting with Chris Newey, who worked with Mary and her husband, Prof. Earle, to present their books online for international use fishing. Mary became Director of the Centre until Dean Stockwell was appointed as Director. Mary was also involved in many workshops in New Zealand, mainly for the bakery and bacon industries but also for other groups such as the local retailers. Workshops in Product Development were also organised in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand. Membership of Committees and Boards started with the Food Standards Committee which developed the first modern Food Standards. The Boards included the Export and Import Corporation, the Meat Research Institute, the NZ Pork Industry Board, Telarc, finally ending in the Crop and Food Research Institute. There were government committees on tertiary education, universities review, and the “Step Panel” which set priorities for science and technology in New Zealand. She also worked in S.E. Asia, mainly in Thailand, but also Malaysia and the Philippines. There were a number of projects in the development of technology courses, particularly in Product Development, including nutritional improvement projects such as the introduction of cowpeas
