Kerry E. Kaylegian, Ph.D.

Research Interests

My program provides technical support to the dairy industry and delivers outreach programs focused on improving the safety and quality of dairy products. I direct and lecture in our annual short courses on dairy preventive controls and food safety, dairy basics for small-scale dairy processors, cheese making, pasteurizer operations, and cultured products, and assist with the ice cream short courses. I also provide customized training to domestic and international audiences.

My research is focused on creating tools for small-scale cheesemakers to improve the safety and quality of their cheese and meet food safety regulations. The tools include guidelines and spreadsheets and worksheet templates that processors can customize to meet their needs. Another area of my extension program is working with Value-Added Dairy Foods Working Group to create resources and assist small and medium-scale processors and entrepreneurs with value-added dairy foods processing and food safety.

I have a strong interest in the sensory evaluation of dairy products and judge cheese and dairy products at several national competitions, coach the Penn State Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Team, and Chair the Pennsylvania Farm Show Cheese Competition.

I support the industry as a faculty advisor for the Pennsylvania Association of Milk Food and Environmental Sanitarians (PAMFES) and the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild, and am on the Board of Directors for the American Cheese Society and the Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest.

Awards

Extension Excellence Award, 2019, Gamma Sigma Delta, Penn State

Garde et Jure, 2018, Guilde Internationale des Fromagers, New World Chapter

Julius Bauerman Lectureship Award, 2016, Philadelphia Section of the Institute of Food Technologists

American Dairy Science Foundation Scholar Award in Dairy Foods, 2015, American Dairy Science Association

Marie Kelso Memorial Award, 2014, Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confections Association

Recent Publications

The effect of increasing dietary palmitic and stearic acid on melting properties of milk fat from Holstein cows. A.N. Homan, A.N., Ziegler, G., Kaylegian, K.E., and Harvatine, K.J. 2025. J. Dairy Sci. 108:13381–13398. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26837

 Impact of hygienic milk production training on knowledge, attitudes and practices of women farmers in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Keba, A., Tola, A., Kaylegian, K.E., Kebede, M., and Zewdu, A. 2025. Frontiers in Sustainable Agriculture. 8:1539559.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1539559