Rose Marie Pangborn

Rose Marie Valdes Pangborn (1932 – March 17, 1990) was a Mexican-American food scientist, food technologist, professor, and a pioneer in the field of sensory analysis of food attributes. She worked as a sensory scientist in the Experiment Station, Step VIII, served for 35 years at the University of California, Davis.

Early life and education Born as Rose Marie Valdes in 1932 in Las Cruces, New Mexico to Mexican immigrant parents Leo and Rosalie Valdes. She earned a B.S. in 1953 at New Mexico State University and a M.S. in 1955 in Foods at Iowa State University. She married Jack Pangborn in 1956.

Career After joining the Department of Food Technology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in 1955,

There is a scholarship in her honor, the Pangborn Sensory Science Scholarship Fund (SSSF) is a $15,000 award given each year to a Ph.D. student who intends to teach and conduct research in the area of Sensory Science at the University level.

In 1978, Pangborn co-founded with Maxwell M. Mozel, Linda Bartoshuk, and Gary Beauchamp, the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (ACHEMS), an international professional society.

Dedicated in her memory, the Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium was founded in 1992 and is a biennial international meeting and conference of sensory scientists. The first symposium was organized in Finland in 1992, the Second at UC Davis and the third in Norway. Recent Pangborn Symposiums have been held in Rio de Janeiro, Gothenburg, Providence, Edinburgh, Nantes and Philadelphia.