Gail Vance Civille

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Gail Vance Civille (born 1943) is president of Sensory Spectrum, Inc., an author, speaker, educator, and a pioneer in advanced sensory evaluation approaches for industry, academia, and government. Her fundamental development of flavor, texture, fragrance, skinfeel, and fabicfeel Spectrum Descriptive Analysis methodology, references, and protocols provide the groundwork for the analytical tools used by many in the sensory science field.[1][2]

Gail Vance Civille

Personal life[]

Gail Vance was born in 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, where she lived for 24 years until she moved to Parsippany, New Jersey upon her 1967 marriage to Frank Civille. Growing up in her family "food was a religion," she has said; "Christmas dinner would last four hours." At her family table, an appetizer would be served, then talked about, followed by another course and more talk. In this environment, Civille was made aware of not only what went into a meal but what the textures were supposed to be like and what made one dish better than another.[3]

Education and early career[]

After graduating from St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn, Civille attended the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York, where she received a B.S. in chemistry.[4] She started her career at General Foods Corporation in 1965 as an associate sensory project leader. This is where Civille met her husband, a chemical engineer who also worked at GFC, when she offered him the opportunity to do a sensory evaluation for "egg custard.” Civille has referred to her experience at GFC as, "the Graduate School in Sensory Evaluation." During this time, she was mentored by Elaine Z. Skinner.

In the early 1970s, Civille began working as an independent consultant, applying her experience at GFC to work in the field of sensory analysis. In 1970, she first taught the "Sensory Evaluation Training Course" at the Center for Professional Advancement, an organization dedicated to providing accredited technical training and continuing professional education to industry and government professionals worldwide.[2] She has continued instructing this course for the last fifty years.

Sensory Spectrum[]

After 16 years as an industry consultant, Civille founded Sensory Spectrum, Inc.[citation needed]

Research[]

As founder and president of Sensory Spectrum, Inc. Civille has impacted sensory science globally via her applied strategic business initiatives for R&D and Marketing projects. Her work in the development of the flavor, texture, fragrance, skinfeel, and fabricfeel Spectrum Descriptive Analysis Methodology,[5] including references and protocols, is the foundation for the analytical tools utilized in sensory science. As an expert in the evaluation of sensory properties, Civille has worked with a vast variety of food, personal care, and household products using both consumer and descriptive techniques.[4][6][7] As a course director for Sensory Spectrum, Inc and the Center for Professional Advancement, she has worked as an educator in both basic and advanced sensory evaluation methods and theory, as well as consumer testing, panel leadership, quality control, and the management of sensory programs.[2]

Philosophy[]

The predictive power of sensory evaluation algorithms is “phenomenal,” Civille states. “They help companies create a sound, smell, and tactile environment that is reinforcing to the product, sometimes independent of that product’s actual purpose.”[5] Civille compares sensory evaluation to other sciences by stating, "It's a sensory jolt every day. Tasting or smelling is like anthropology or archaeology. You're watching to see what unfolds in a product, discovering new things."[3]

Current Professional Affiliations[]

Awards[]

  • 2006 ASTM Award of Merit E18. Accompanying title of Fellow[8]
  • 2005 College of Mount Saint Vincent Ad Laudem Dei[4]
  • 2001 ASTM David R. Peryam Award. Outstanding professional in Applied Sensory Science field[9]

Books[]

Civille has published articles on general sensory methods, as well as sophisticated application of sensory strategy. She is co-author of Sensory Evaluation Techniques [now in its 5th edition] which covers all phases of sensory evaluation, details all sensory tests currently in use, promotes effective employment of these tests, and describes major sensory evaluation practices. As a co-editor of the ASTM book The Aroma and Flavor Lexicon for Sensory Evaluation, she detailed the process used for implementing a word list for a specific product category, physical flavor and aroma references, product examples, as well as the most frequently used terms. In Sensory Evaluation in Quality Control, she emphasizes the importance of applying sensory evaluation in quality control and presents the sensory and statistical information that is needed to design and implement several types of quality control programs at the plant level.

  • Morten Meilgaard; Civille, Gail Vance; & Carr, Thomas (2006). Sensory Evaluation Techniques. 4th ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. OCLC 752871287 ISBN 0-8493-3839-5
  • Munoz, Alejandra; Civille, Gail Vance; Carr, Thomas (1992). Sensory Evaluation in Quality Control. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. OCLC 614443175 ISBN 0-442-00459-1
  • Civille, Gail Vance; Lyon, Brenda (1996). Aroma and Flavor Lexicon for Sensory Evaluation: Terms, Definitions, References, and Examples. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM. OCLC 34245641 ISBN 0-8031-2072-9

Civille has also been referenced in the works of others. In his book blink, Malcolm Gladwell cited Gail Vance Civille and her colleague Judy Heylmun, referring to the value of their know-how, by saying, "The gift of their expertise is that it allows them to have a much better understanding of what goes on behind the locked door of their unconscious."[10]

Contributions to other publications[]

Standard Guide for Sensory Claims Substantiation, 1998. ASTM, 1-21. Annual Book of Standard

Public Engagement[]

Civille has reached the public through a variety of mediums to educate on the concepts of sensory science and evaluation techniques including television, radio, streaming videos, as well as newspaper and magazine publications.

References[]

  1. ^ 1. Muñoz and G. Civille, "The Spectrum Descriptive Analysis Method," in Manual on Descriptive Analysis Testing for Sensory Evaluation, ed. R. Hootman (West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, 1992), 22-34.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c https://www.cfpa.com/Instructor/InstructorPage?CourseDirectorID=59
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/26/jobs/my-job-i-say-it-tastes-like-spinach.html
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c https://mountsaintvincent.edu/college-of-mount-saint-vincent-honors-distinguished-alumni/
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i7/Gail-Vance-Civille.html
  6. ^ Civille, G.V. and Dus, C.A. (1990). "Development of terminology to describe the handfeel properties of paper and fabrics". Journal of Sensory Studies 5, 19-32
  7. ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/sensory-evaluators-taste-test-food-jobs-paid-2018-4
  8. ^ https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/networking/news/people/5931661.html
  9. ^ https://www.astm.org/MEMBERSHIP/filtrexx40.cgi?-P+ALPHA+C+-P+ORDER+LN+alpha_awards.frm
  10. ^ 11. Gladwell, Malcolm (2007) blink. The Power of Thinking without Thinking pp.177-179

External links[]

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