MS and PhD, food technology and science ’82, ’85
Rico graduated from UT with her master’s degree in 1982 and her PhD in 1985—both in food technology and science. She earned her degree in biological sciences in Spain, discovering her passion for food science after a one-year specialization course in Valencia.
Once she completed her doctorate, Rico and her husband, Jose March-Leuba, went back to Spain for a short time, then returned to Knoxville in 1986. Because UT did not offer a postdoctoral program, Rico worked for a small lab in Knoxville called S-W Laboratories. In 1988, she started her own testing laboratory, BCN Research Laboratories based in Rockford, Tennessee. “It cost me $25 to get a business license, and I have never worked for anybody else,” she says.
Rico started small in food mycology, or mold spoilage in food and beverages, by testing for Listeria monocytogenes. In 1990, she worked on projects for Quaker Oats at their Newport, Tennessee, facility, which produced Gatorade until 2001 when PepsiCo acquired the company. Today, BCN Labs continues as a global leader in the field, specializing in food and beverage microbiology and mycology including pathogen testing and bacteria, yeast, and mold spoilage.
She compares starting her own company to having a kid, explaining, “You have to nurture it until it develops into an entity of its own. It is a great experience but requires patience and a lot of nurturing.” Under her leadership, BCN Labs has thrived for thirty-seven years.
Rico fell in love with the subject of food mycology after discovering the book Fungi and Food Spoilage by John Pitt and Ailsa Hocking. It was through Pitt’s inspiration and mentorship that Rico joined the International Commission on Food Mycology in 2003. She says, “Most of my professional life has been dedicated to the promotion of food mycology, which has been my passion from the beginning.”
The UT Department of Food Science played a key role in Rico’s success through its course offerings and support from mentors like emeritus food microbiology professors Mike Davidson and Ann Draughon, and late emeritus professor in meat science Curtis Melton, and late emeritus professor in analytical chemistry Sharon Melton.
Equipping the next generation of food scientists and health professionals.
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