Mario Ferruzzi

Mario Ferruzzi joined the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech as dean in October 2024. He leads a college consisting of more than 1,900 employees in locations across Virginia – all united in the land-grant mission of teaching, research, and Extension. Ferruzzi also works with stakeholders and partners throughout the commonwealth, nation, and world to address critical research and workforce needs, support thriving communities, improve human and animal health, and enhance the productivity and sustainability of agriculture.

Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Ferruzzi served as the Arkansas Children’s Endowed Chair in Digestive Disease and Nutrition Research and section chief in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and as director of the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center (2021-24), which is a partnership between the USDA-Agricultural Research Service and the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute and one of six USDA-ARS-funded Human Nutrition Research Centers nationwide.

He previously served as a David H. Murdock Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University’s Plants for Human Health Institute (2016-21) and as a professor in the Departments of Food Science and Nutrition Science at Purdue University (2004-16). From 2001 to 2004, he worked as a product research and development scientist for Nestlé.

Ferruzzi’s research lies at the interface of agriculture, food, and nutrition sciences in the study of micronutrient and phytochemical bioavailability, metabolism, and impact to human health. He focuses on strategies that can be leveraged to improve the nutritional and functional quality of food products for at-risk populations. He has helped address international food and nutrition needs through collaborations with leading academic and government research centers and institutions in Italy, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Senegal, and South Africa. His research efforts have received consistent support from the federal, non-profit, and private sectors.  

As a current member of the USDA’s National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board, Ferruzzi provides insight into priorities for food and agriculture research. He also offers guidance to key stakeholder groups, including food manufacturers and associations, on the interface of food and nutrition sciences and the development and assessment of food products.  

He is a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologist, the American Society for Nutrition, the American Chemical Society, the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.   

Ferruzzi grew up in Beaufort, North Carolina, spending time on Open Grounds Farm, a 45,000-acre farm managed and developed by his father, and in his mother’s research lab at the Duke University Marine Lab.

He earned his B.S. in chemistry from Duke University in 1996 and his Ph.D. in food science and nutrition from The Ohio State University in 2001.