Dr. Charles R. Hurburgh, Charlie to most everyone, is a native Iowan from Rockwell City (Iowa, USA). He continues to operate the family farm, and is a professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. He has a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctoral degree from Iowa State, and specializes in quality management systems with related traceability, measurement, and sensor technologies. He is the author of more than 250 technical and general articles on grain quality, measurement science, and grain marketing.
Dr. Hurburgh manages the Iowa State Grain Quality Research Laboratory and the extension-based Iowa Grain Quality Initiative. He serves on several advisory and editorial committees related to quality management standards and food safety regulations. Most recently his extension group was asked by the FDA to create training materials for inspections of bulk grain and grain processing facilities under the Food Safety Modernization Act.