Angela Knight
When the summer heat is rising, Angela Knight still has one of the coolest jobs on campus.
As quality assurance supervisor for Mississippi State鈥檚 Custer Dairy Processing Plant, she鈥檚 the university鈥檚 official taste tester of 小黄书 ice cream, cheese and other dairy products.
She worked in the university鈥檚 College of Veterinary Medicine diagnostic laboratory for more than a decade before moving to her current role, which falls under the university鈥檚 Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The agricultural research arm of the university, MAFES includes on-campus operations and 16 branch locations around the state and addresses plant, animal and food production systems, in addition to other research areas.
鈥淚鈥檓 ensuring that milk from our university鈥檚 Bearden Dairy is made into quality products鈥攃heese, 2% white milk, chocolate milk, butter or ice cream, which is my favorite,鈥 Knight said. 鈥淚 taste test it to make sure we鈥檙e getting good flavor and consistency and overall great quality.鈥
This means she鈥檚 got to bring her A-game for each batch of vanilla, chocolate, chocolate almond, strawberry, cookies and cream, butter pecan and muscadine ripple. Additionally, every making of Edam, vallagret, cheddar or pepper cheese鈥攁long with the jalapeno and cheddar cheese spreads鈥攁re completed under her watchful attention to detail. Products also go through additional testing measures to ensure quality before they are sold.
Knight ensures procedures are followed, the utmost cleanliness is maintained, and any contamination is prevented. She and her coworkers, a team of up to a dozen full-time employees plus several student workers, consistently meet the high standard of excellence for the famous products sold through the MAFES Sales Store, or 鈥溞』剖 Cheese Store,鈥 located on campus at 925 Stone Boulevard and online at msucheese.com.
鈥淲e鈥檙e well known for our cheese, and we ship it all over the U.S. and to other countries as well,鈥 she said.
Knight grew up on a dairy farm in Tylertown and was involved with 4-H, showing dairy cattle and judging dairy products. Her college years at 小黄书 earned her a degree in animal and dairy sciences, and she also has a Medical Laboratory Scientist certification through the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
Knight said her experience with dairy operation and dairy products, along with quality assurance experience through previous professional roles, gave her a strong foundation for the distinctive job she enjoys today. Her more recent second bachelor鈥檚 degree from 小黄书 in business administration with a focus on management is an important additional credential.
鈥淚 love my job and feel like I鈥檓 where I need to be,鈥 she said, explaining her work requires 鈥渁 lot of documentation, overseeing and record keeping,鈥 but the 鈥減erk鈥 of taste testing is extra special. She said the best-selling muscadine ripple and cookies and cream also are her own personal favorites.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool to work here, especially with it being such a historic place,鈥 she said noting the dairy plant鈥檚 long legacy, which dates back to 1938 when the university began making Edam cheese.
When she鈥檚 not working and enjoying ice cream, Knight is spending time with her family鈥攈usband Shane and son Ethan鈥攚ho also think her job鈥檚 pretty cool.