As a child Joseph Jen’s passion was studying Chinese literature. As an adult, Jen finds satisfaction in tweaking scientific problems with business sense solutions. What drove a child born in mainland China, who spent his formative years growing up in Taiwan, to decide to mix a bent for science with business and devote it to improving agriculture?

In a word: strawberries.

Jen, the under secretary for research, education, and economics, was in high school in Taiwan when his father retired from the government and started a strawberry farm on the island. “A friend in Okinawa had complained to my father that there was no strawberry jam anywhere in East Asia,” he said. “So my father located a source for seeds--bought a whole mountain head, something like 300 to 400 acres--and began a strawberry farm. By Chinese standards at the time, that was very big because most people there only have one or two acres.”

After high school and college in Taiwan, Jen came to America to continue his education, earning an M.S. degree in food science and a Ph.D. degree in comparative biochemistry. Later, he also earned an MBA degree while working in the food industry.

“I started off just like any other Ph.D., with teaching and research at a land grant university for eleven years. But because of my experience with my father’s farm I always had this urge to be more hands-on, to get closer to the real thing,” Jen said.

That led him to a six-year stint at the Campbell Soup Company where his research centered on improving the texture of food products. “One day I had a conversation with the vice president of the company,” he said. “He was complaining about their Ragu spaghetti sauce. It was too watery and he wanted it made thicker, kind of like ketchup. I said, ‘That’s easy’!” The result was Prego spaghetti sauce, which captured 30 percent of the national market in the first month after its debut.

Jen returned to academia in 1986, serving as chairman of the Food Science and Technology Division at the University of Georgia. From 1992 until his appointment as under secretary for REE in July 2001 (the August 2001 issue of the USDA News carried his complete biographical sketch, following his swearing in to that position), he was dean of the College of Agriculture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he oversaw eleven departments. Good training for his current job leading the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the Economic Research Service, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service--the center of USDA’s scientific, economic, and statistical brain trust.

“I think this is the first job where I can use all the tools in my toolbox. Because there are so many diverse issues, I’m able to have a more integrated approach,” Jen said. He pointed to a deal he made with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Eager to tap into USDA’s work on animal and plant genomic research, NIH had approached Jen about collaborating on sequencing the honeybee. “Nobody would believe you can negotiate this--but NIH agreed to pay 90 percent of the costs. I was able to talk to the scientists and say how important is this, it needs to be done, but I don’t have the money,” he said.

Last Book Read: “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal,” by Eric Schlosser

Hobbies: Long-time stamp and coin collector. Duplicate bridge (was national champion in his youth in Taiwan)

Favorite Food: Chinese, especially sea cucumber and duck feet. “But I like steak too.”

Last Movie Seen: Nothing recent, but loves James Bond reruns

Favorite Weekend Breakfast: Soupy rice (A Chinese dish to which you can add anything for flavor or let it stand alone)

Priorities In The Months Ahead: “I want to continue building new relationships with agencies outside USDA and within USDA. All four of my agencies have a lot to offer and they do provide services to other agencies, but I think there is more that we can do. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of our scientists. When it comes to work, one plus one equals more than two--that’s my concept on teamwork. In the coming months, budget will still be a constraint--but on the other hand we have to couple budget with performance. I hope to create an environment where people are happy, because that usually brings out the best in them.” •

--Patricia Klintberg