Michael Qian

Michael Qian is a Professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology at Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences. He is also a core member of the Oregon Wine Research Institute and has extensive professional affiliations including the Executive Committee of the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, the Institute of Food Technologists, American Dairy Scientist Association, and American Society of Enology and Viticulture.

Dr. Qian received his B.S. in Chemistry from Wuhan University (1982), M.S. in Food Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1989), and Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Minnesota (2000).

His research focuses on flavor chemistry and technology, with particular emphasis on wine and grape flavor chemistry to identify and quantify flavor compounds important to wine quality and understand how they change the chemical composition of fruit after winemaking and during aging. His laboratory research is centered on aroma and flavor compound identification and characterization, flavor compounds chemical and biochemical generation, and flavor retention and deterioration during processing and storage. Current projects involve flavor chemistry of small fruits, grape and wine, beer, hop, and dairy products. He specializes in solventless sample preparation techniques such as solid phase micro-extraction, solid phase dynamic extraction, stir bar sorptive extraction and instrumental analysis with GC, fast GC, HPLC, GC-MS, GC-MS/olfactometry, and multi-dimensional GC/GC-MS analysis.

Dr. Qian's publication record demonstrates consistent expertise in food flavor chemistry, particularly in wine, beer, and distilled spirits analysis. His recent work shows increasing focus on advanced analytical techniques for detecting smoke exposure in wine, volatile phenol analysis, and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography for flavor profiling across diverse food and beverage matrices.

• FEMA Excellence in Flavor Science, Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association of the U.S. (FEMA). (October 24, 2022)
• Distinguished Lipid and Flavor Science Award in honor of Stephen S. Chang, The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). (July 10, 2022)
• 2020-21 James and Mildred Oldfield/E.R. Jackman Team Award, College of Agricultural Sciences. (2021)
• Industry Partner Award, Oregon Wine Board. (February 22, 2021)
• Stay at Home Hero Award, Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences. (October 2020)
• Fellow, American Chemical Society (ACS). (August 2019)
• Distinguished Service Award, American Chemical Society-Agricultural Food Chemistry Division. (2018)
• Fellow, American Chemical Society – Agricultural & Food Chemistry Division. (August 2014)
• Honorary State FFA Degree Recipient, Oregon FFA Association. (2010)
• Emerging Scholar Award, The Honor Society of PHI KAPPA PHI. (2006)

Dr. Qian has served as past chair of the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society and is an elected fellow of this division. His research has been supported by various funding sources related to food science, viticulture, and enology, with numerous publications spanning food chemistry, analytical techniques, and flavor science.

As a core member of the Oregon Wine Research Institute, Dr. Qian contributes to collaborative research efforts focused on advancing the science of wine production and quality. His laboratory serves as a hub for flavor chemistry research with state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation for comprehensive flavor analysis across multiple food and beverage systems.