Wheat Flour

The opportunity to improve health through agriculture is at the center of Sean Finnie’s professional mission. Sean is Director of the USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Laboratory, for which the mission is threefold: (1) to conduct cooperative investigations with breeders, geneticists, and pathologists in the seven western states to evaluate the milling and baking quality characteristics of wheat selections produced each year; (2) to conduct basic research into the biochemical and genetic basis of wheat quality in order to better understand the fundamental nature of end-use functionality; and (3) to develop new and better means to assess the quality of potential wheat culitivars through identification or critical quality paramaters. Before working for the USDA-ARS, Sean worked at Bay State Milling, where he led cultivar development activities, including the commercialization of high fiber wheat, the development of high protein and sustainable oats, and the improvement of organic wheat. Before working at Bay State Milling, he was a Principal Scientist in Cargill’s Global Food Technology group, first in the Bakery Technology Group and then in the Snacks and Cereal Applications Group.

Sean holds a PhD in Grain Science from Kansas State University and Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Food Science from the University of Idaho. Sean was a postdoctoral fellow at KU Leuven, working in the Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry. Additionally, Sean received a Professional Certificate of Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Sean has volunteered extensively in the Cereals & Grains Association, where he was the Program Chair for the 2019 annual meeting, Chair of the Milling and Baking Division, member of the Scientific Advisory Panel, Professional Development Panel, and Associate Editor for Cereal Chemistry. Sean is also active in the National Association of Plant Breeders and the Crop Science Society of America.