A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 26, for Edwin B. Collins, 69, professor emeritus of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, who died Monday evening at Woodland Memorial Hospital after a long illness. The service will be held at the Davis Ward Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Elmwood and West Eighth streets in Davis. A native of Conway, S.C., Professor Collins received his bachelor's degree in dairying from Clemson University in 1943 and went on to earn his master's and doctoral degrees in dairy microbiology from Iowa State University in 1948 and 1949, respectively. He served three years in the Army during World War II as a first lieutenant. Upon retirement from the Army, he became a captain in the Army Reserve. Professor Collins joined the UC Davis faculty in 1949 in the Department of Dairy Industry, which merged in 1959 with the Food Technology Department to form the Department of Food Science and Technology. A dairy bacteriologist, Professor Collins specialized in fermentation and food spoilage problems. His research focused on the nutrition and physiology of culture bacteria and how these bacteria might be better used in manufacturing dairy products. He investigated the biochemistry involved in forming flavor compounds using the bacteria, methods for circumventing the actions of viruses on the bacteria and the potential health benefits of the bacteria. He taught classes in dairy bacteriology for 10 years and then in food microbiology until his retirement in 1987. During his academic career, he supervised the research of numerous graduate students. His research was recognized with a Fulbright Award in 1958-59 for research at the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, and with the Pfizer Paul-Lewis Award from the American Dairy Science Association in 1962. He was a member of numerous scholarly organizations including Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Lambda Epsilon, Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Zeta, Sigma Xi, the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society for Microbiology. Professor Collins was active in faculty governance at UC Davis. He served in several offices in the Davis Division of the Academic Senate, including secretary and vice chair. He was chair of the campus rules committee and served on several task forces appointed by the chancellor. He also chaired the faculty of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and was a master adviser for the food science major. Away from his campus commitments, Professor Collins enjoyed playing golf and bridge. He was president of the Yolo Fliers golf club in 1982. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; two daughters, Lara Collins of Tempe, Ariz., and Ann Majestic of Davis; and three sons, Aaron Hudson of Davis, Bruce Collins of Raleigh, N.C., and Charles Collins of Signal Mountain, Tenn. He also leaves a brother, Almon Collins of Columbia, S.C., and a sister, Evelyn Lee of Conway, S.C. He is survived by nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that memorial contributions be made to the Edwin B. Collins Memorial Fund. Proceeds will be used to purchase dairy and food microbiology books for the library of the Food Science and Technology Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.