Jennifer McEntire

Jennifer Cleveland McEntire, Ph.D. is a Senior Director in Leavitt Partners food safety practice bringing more than a decade of food safety experience to the firm. McEntire helps food industry clients understand their supply chain risks and prioritize mitigations in the context of the changing regulatory landscape and global food safety system.

Previously she worked for eight years at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a scientific society where she most recently served as the organization’s Senior Staff Scientist and Director of Science & Technology Projects. In this position, she directed IFT’s external grant and contract work, of which FDA was the largest client. She also worked to translate IFT’s contract experiences into educational opportunities for IFT member food scientists and the general food community. In addition, she served as a media spokesperson on issues related to food protection, particularly product tracing.

Prior to joining IFT, McEntire was a USDA National Needs Fellow in Food Safety at Rutgers University, where she conducted her doctoral work. McEntire also currently serves as the Panel Manager for the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s Small Business Innovation Research grant program in the area of food science and nutrition.

McEntire earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Rutgers University and received a Bachelor of Science with Distinction, magna cum laude, in food science from the University of Delaware.