Professional Master of Science in Food Safety Degree Program

Featured Faculty

Dr. Phil Schertzing is a major contributing faculty member in Food Protection and Defense, VM/CJ 821, who brings with him an extraordinary amount of real-world experience. He explains that his, “primary background and focus is that of a practitioner, but one with a genuine appreciation for the multifaceted benefits that accrue from the intellectual exercise of scholarly debate, research and academic education.”

With the rank of inspector, serving as the assistant state director of emergency management and homeland security for Michigan, he retired from the Michigan State Police in 2002. He came to MSU and is currently working as an academic specialist in the Outreach Unit of the MSU School of Criminal Justice. He received a Ph.D. in American History.

His duties include administering homeland security training and planning grants, and teaching both online and on-campus classes in homeland security and criminal justice. Phil also serves as adjunct faculty for the Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

He believes, “My experience in the MSP Emergency Management Division was an epiphany, of sorts. I quickly learned that my chosen profession of law enforcement, noble and important though it was, was just one element in the overall emergency management and homeland security system. I came to appreciate the respective roles, responsibilities, contributions and capabilities of a wide variety of organizations and disciplines, including public health, emergency medicine, agriculture, veterinary medicine, public works, transportation, non-governmental organizations, volunteer organizations, and private industry. For the system to work properly, we all need to become familiar with each other before crises occur.”