Douglas Archer

May 15, 1946 - January 19, 2022

Dr. Douglas Archer, born in 1946 in Paterson, New Jersey, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, January 19th, 2022, after undergoing a routine heart procedure the day before. Before moving from the Washington D.C. area to Gainesville, Florida with his family in 1994, Dr. Archer served as Deputy Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition with the U.S Food and Drug Administration. He was a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and was appointed Assistant Surgeon General in July, 1990 and served in this position until his retirement from the USPHS in 1994. Dr. Archer was appointed Professor and Chair, Food Science and Human Nutrition with the University of Florida in 1994. He stepped down as Chair in 2001 to return to faculty. He was selected to be an Associate Dean for Research, UF/IFAS in 2006, and remained in that position until 2016. Dr. Archer then returned to a faculty position and continued to mentor, teach, conduct research, and publish papers for the university. His 28 years at the University of Florida were some of Dr. Archer's happiest years, he treasured the friendships he made, and felt incredibly fortunate and grateful to be given the opportunity to work with so many wonderful colleagues and students. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Linda Archer, his children, Mark and Jennifer Archer, his three grandchildren, Miles, Grace, and Ella, as well as many family members and friends that will dearly miss him. No service is planned at this time. A fund In Dr. Archer’s name has been created by the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at UF. The money collected will go directly to students in need and will ultimately be turned into a permanent scholarship fund for students. Dr. Archer would love that his legacy will now and forever be helping the students he loved working with over the last 28 years with the university. The link to the fund is: https://UFgive.to/archer