Penn State faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences have been involved in confectionery research and instruction since the 1920s. This effort was initially in the Dairy Science Department and emphasized frozen desserts. The late Dr. Chester "Chet" Dahle, who studied mechanisms of shrinkage, stabilizers and the freezing process, conducted much of the early ice cream research. He advised 37 advanced degree students. Dr. Dahle started the now-famous Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, which has been taught continuously since the mid-1920s, with more than 4,000 graduates from around the world. Many entrepreneurs received their ice cream knowledge from this short course. One of the many success stories is Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, that resulted in part, from knowledge gained through the correspondence course.

Professor Dahle was one of Penn State's first formal contacts with the chocolate industry, working with M&M/Mars, then located in Newark, NJ. In the 1930s, Professor Michael Lisse and L. Russel Cook of the College of Agriculture conducted pioneering studies on cocoa powder for fluid beverages. Russ Cook had a very distinguished career in the chocolate industry, working with Grace Chocolate, Ambrosia, and Cacaofabriek DeZaan. He also wrote the well-known book Chocolate Production and Use, which is still in use today.

Dr. Philip Keeney, also known as the "Emperor of Ice Cream," continued the research and directed the Ice Cream Short Course from 1955 to 1985. He and his students conducted research on air cell/liquid emulsions, flavor, and formualtions of frozen desserts. Although retired, Dr. Keeney is still very active, teaching in the short course and designing ice cream plants throughout the world, including a Chinese facility named Keeney-Beany Ice Cream Factory. From 1986 to 1998 Dr. Arun Kilara was director of the Ice Cream Short Course. Most recently Dr. Robert Roberts has assumed the lead role. The annual enrollment ranges from 130 to 150.

The chocolate and confectionery program was formally initiated with financial support from the Chocolate Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) and the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Confectioners’ Association (PMCA) beginning in 1963 and 1965, respectively. Dr. Keeney was the principal investigator for the CMA grant until 1985 and the PMCA grant until 1973. The CMA grant funded research into the chemical composition of Theobroma cacao seeds, with emphasis on chocolate flavor. Rheology and flavor chemistry of caramel and oxidative changes in butter creams were the foci of the early PMCA research. Eighteen students obtained advanced degrees in confectionery research under Dr. Keeney’s supervision.

Professor Paul S. Dimick was the principal investigator of the PMCA grant from 1974 to his retirement in 1997. During those 23 years, Dr. Dimick’s research emphasized the flavor and sensory quality of chocolate, the effects of processing on the chemical and physical properties of cocoa and chocolate, and mechanisms of cocoa butter crystallization. Dr. Dimick became the principal investigator of the CMA grant in 1986, studying polyphenoloxidase in Theobroma cacao during seed development. Professor Dimick advised 22 advanced degree students in chocolate and confectionery research.

During the 1980s, the American Cocoa Research Institute (ACRI) supported Dr. Peter Romaine’s work on a procedure for the preparation of separated leaf cells and protoplasts from cacao. He and his colleagues explored the use of double-stranded RNA analysis as a genetic test for infection of cacao by RNA viruses.

In the College of Health and Human Development, Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton and her colleagues in the Department of Nutrition conducted a major study on the impact of cocoa butter in the diet. ACRI and Hershey Foods Corporation supported this work from 1987 to 1991. The ACRI project focused on the metabolic consequences of cocoa butter, while the Hershey projects were on the digestibility of cocoa butter and corn oil in human subjects and pre-exercise candy bar ingestion, glycemic response, substrate utilization and athletic performance. These projects supported four advanced degree students and resulted in numerous publications.

In 1986, ACRI funded a $1.5 million Molecular Biology of Theobroma cacao Endowment in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Phil Keeney (Prof. Food Science, UP), Dr. Paul Fritz (Assoc. Prof. Pharmacology, Hershey Medical School), Dr. Chuck Duncan (vice president of research and development, Hershey Foods Corp.) and Dr. Barry Zoumas (vice president, Hershey Foods Corp.) initiated this endowment. The initial objective of the program was to develop a system for the genetic transformation of the cocoa tree for improved disease resistance and seed quality. The first endowment of its kind at Penn State, the CMA/ACRI project was supported by Penn State President Bryce Jordan, Senior Vice-President Dr. Charles Hosler and Senior Vice President Steve Garban. Richard O'Connell, president of CMA/ACRI and Dr. Russell Larson, CMA/ACRI science advisor and former dean of the College of Agriculture and University Provost, were also instrumental in establishing the program.

Dr. Paul Fritz was the director of the ACRI endowed program from 1986-1992, advising three advanced degree students. Dr. Douglas Furtek directed the program from 1992-1996, supervising five graduate degree students. The molecular biology program is currently under the direction of Dr. Mark Guiltinan, in the Department of Horticulture.

In 1989 under the leadership of Larry B. Campbell, the PMCA Scholarship Committee raised $100,000 for an endowed graduate fellowship at Penn State recognizing distinguished PMCA members. Three students have since completed work as PMCA Fellows: Joseph Ferrone (honoring Dr. Rodney C. Welch), Laura DeMars (honoring Elwood W. Meyers), and Michelle Troutman (honoring Jay C. Musser). In 1998, PMCA donated an additional $250,000 to the endowment to fully fund the program, with the PMCA Research Committee assuming coordinating responsibility.

Additional associations that have supported confectionery research include the National Confectioners’ Association (NCA) and the American Association of Candy Technologists (AACT) for work on flavor-fade in peanuts. A Ben Franklin Challenge Grant supported the development of a chocolate manufacture short course taught from 1988 to 1994 under the direction of Dr. Dimick with assistance from Dr. Greg Ziegler. The Ben Franklin Partnership and Readco Manufacturing supported work on the continuous conching of chocolate with Dr. Greg Ziegler as principal investigator. Drs. Dimick and Ziegler also conducted extensive studies on the utilization of fractionated milk fat in the formulation of milk chocolate supported by Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI). Dr. Ziegler continues research on the influence of particle size and size distribution on the rheology and sensory properties of chocolate, the manufacture of soft-panned confections, and chocolate manufacturing. Penn State currently co-sponsors the Chocolate and Compound Coatings Workshop with the NCA.

From 1967 to 1997, 57 students completed research in the cocoa, chocolate and confectionery area. (Theses). Of these students, 17 entered cocoa, chocolate, or confectionery related companies; ten entered universities in the US and abroad with faculty appointments; and the remainder either went on to graduate school or were employed by other food companies and state or federal agencies (Students). More than 170 research manuscripts have been published since 1964 (Publications). Numerous presentations have been given nationally and abroad. These include invitational speaking engagements and technology transfer by Penn State faculty members in Australia, New Zealand, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Greece, Portugal, Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. The chocolate processing and manufacturing short course has been presented by Dr. Dimick in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. The ice cream and frozen confection short course has been presented by Dr. Kilara in Australia, Israel, and Mexico. Ruth Hollender has presented the sensory evaluation short course in Portugal, Australia, and Puerto Rico.