MERIDIAN, Idaho - Dr. Eric Bastian joins the United Dairymen of Idaho today as the new vice president of industry relations. He will serve as a vital link between Idaho's dairy farm families, dairy food processors and regional research universities."Eric brings an unmatched passion for the importance of product innovation and research to the success of dairy food and ingredient sales," United Dairymen of Idaho CEO Karianne Fallow noted. "His experience and expertise in dairy food science and his knowledge of dairy food processing and university research systems will complement our goals of inspiring trust and building demand for the dairy industry."Before joining United Dairymen of Idaho, Dr. Bastian served as vice president of research and development for Glanbia Nutritionals and Glanbia Foods where he built a world-class team of dairy food researchers and innovation experts. Prior to his role at Glanbia, Dr. Bastian was instrumental in building the Midwest Dairy Research Center at the University of Minnesota, where he started in a faculty position in the department of food science and nutrition and, for six years, led a research team focused on milk protein and enzyme chemistry, processed cheese functionality and milk protein fractionation.Dr. Bastian was born in central Utah and raised on a dairy farm. He earned a bachelor's degree in dairy science and master's and doctorate degrees in nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University. He spent one year as a research fellow with the Danish Government Research Institute for the Dairy Industry in Hillerod, Denmark. Subsequently, he returned to post-doctoral work at Utah State University, which he completed in 1992."I am passionate about dairy food science, product innovation and building a strong, sustainable workforce of future dairy scientists in the Northwest," Bastian said. "By working directly for our dairy farm families, I can correlate their investment in research with real results that bring them value."