Rebecca Bleibaum, vice president of Tragon Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif., has been elected chairman of ASTM International Committee E18 on Sensory Evaluation. The committee, with a membership of more than 230 food, personal care, household care and environmental professionals, develops standards for the sensory evaluation of materials and products.

A member of ASTM International since 1984, Bleibaum works on multiple E18 subcommittees and received an E18 Award of Appreciation in 2004 for her contributions.

Bleibaum has more than 25 years of experience in the sensory and consumer sciences field. Since joining Tragon in 1988, she has been designing custom primary research for major Fortune 500 companies including most major food and beverage; alcoholic beverages; apparel; personal care; and candy manufacturers. Tragon designs and applies scientific sensory methodologies to understand consumer behavior to help companies to meet strategic and global business objectives.

Bleibaum teaches sensory science to professionals around the world at Tragon and through various educational programs at the University of California, Davis. Her training programs include the Tragon workshop series, custom-designed workshops for corporations and professional organizations, and she has conducted a variety of ASTM Committee E18 seminars. She is co-developer and instructor of the yearlong global Web-based course, "Applied Sensory Science and Consumer Testing Certificate Program,” now in its 11th year at UC Davis, and a co-author of the textbook, Sensory Evaluation Practices, 4th Edition (Elsevier/Academic Press, 2012).

Outside ASTM International, Bleibaum is a scientific reviewer for the Journal of Food Science, Food Quality and Preference and the Journal of Sensory Studies, and is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists and the Society of Sensory Professionals. She holds a master’s degree in physiological psychology and psychophysics from Washington University, St. Louis, Ill., and a bachelor’s degree in consumer sciences from the University of California, Davis.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #9132