Dr. John S. Shenk
1933 — 2011
A tribute to our friend and one of the "Fathers" of Near Infrared (NIR) Analysis
Dr. Shenk is truly a pioneer in the world of Near Infrared Analysis. He has been involved with the development of NIR analysis and spectroscopy since it began. In 1983, Dr. Shenk formed a software company, Infrasoft International, LLC (ISI). The software products became the standard used by near infrared (NIR) analysts worldwide in the food and agriculture marketplace. In 1998 after 28 years of research and teaching, Dr. Shenk retired from Penn State University as Professor Emeritus and became President of his own company. In 2005 he retired from his company, Infrasoft International, and became a consultant to Unity Scientific. He has now passed his legacy to others in the field through his publications, discussions, patents, teaching, and software. He has been a tireless champion of non-destructive NIR testing in the agricultural and food communities.
Dr. Phil Willams, another NIR research pioneer once wrote "If an editorial called for key words, the words I would select in a tribute to John S. Shenk would be Insight, Innovativeness, Dedication, and Passion. These few words epitomize his contributions to our world..." Indeed we agree that Dr. Shenk was a leader and teacher of everything NIR.
John S. Shenk, II was born in Pequea Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania in 1933. He grew up there and farmed the land in the Shenk-Stoner neighborhood. At age 28 he attended Millersville State University in Millersville, PA. Then he transferred to The Pennsylvania State University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy in the College of Agriculture. He attended Michigan State University where he obtained a Master of Science degree in 1967 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Plant Breeding in 1969. He then became a professor in the Agronomy Department at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. in 1970. He was a research scientist for 28 years, and he retired in 1998. He was Professor Emeritus in the College of Agriculture.
Dr. Shenk and his wife Gloria (with family members) wrote a book entitled "The Path of Faith: A 300 Year Heritage," about his family history as early Christian pioneers in America up to the present. He tells the story about the first days of near infrared analysis.
When John first met Karl Norris he was an Assistant Professor at Penn State in 1972, he had only been there two years. Professor Bob Barnes had told him about Karl's work at USDA in Beltsville, MD. Karl presented work that showed you could obtain all the important forage constituents in 2 minutes! Following a lecture presented by Karl in Beltsville - the technology was demonstrated, and within 2 minutes the screen displayed the spectrum of the sample, and in John's own words, "in less time than you could take a breath, 5 constituents were printed on the computer terminal - everyone was stunned and no one spoke." Then John said to Professor Barnes, "We need this at Penn State; if you can get the money to build this device, I will make it work!" He thought to himself, "Is this the beginning of something big? Would this new analysis tool be something that would change the marketing of agriculture products and the feeding of livestock world-wide? Maybe this was it, he thought, maybe this was what God wanted me to do. What an opportunity! This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something that would have a positive effect on the lives of everyone, both on and off the farm. I could not sleep at night because I was consumed in my thoughts." Dr. Barnes got the funds together, and John took it from there. And indeed Dr. Shenk made it work and has championed this effort since that time in the forage, agricultural, and food analysis arenas. He will be sorely missed by an international community that has relied on his insight and wisdom over many years.