The (Food) Force Is With Him

When you meet Jack Bobo in person — and trust me, you want to meet Jack Bobo in person — ask him about Star Wars.

“I helped develop the official seven forms of light-saber combat,” says Bobo. “A friend of mine was working for Lucasfilm and knew that I was an avid fencer, so he called me up to help.”

Despite having an entry on the fan site Wookieepedia (“Could there be any more definitive source?” he says with a smile), Bobo sees his greatest adventure not in a galaxy far, far away, but right here on campus.

Last fall, he was named the inaugural executive director of the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies (RFI). Founded by Marcie Rothman ’68, whose alumni family has supported more than 60 UCLA departments for more than nine decades, the RFI aims to be the ultimate interdisciplinary Bruin nexus of food-related science, education, innovation and impact.

“UCLA is an amazing institution, doing groundbreaking research in lots of different areas, and my hope is that the RFI will be the instrument to take our food research further into the world,” Bobo says. “Food brings people together and breaks down barriers. It’s an opportunity to build bridges that go well beyond the dinner table.”

Jack Bobo

“Food brings people together and breaks down barriers,” says Bobo, pictured here at a July Fourth celebration at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in the U.K. (Paging The Diplomat!) “It’s an opportunity to build bridges.”

And when it comes to food, Bobo knows. Most recently the director of the University of Nottingham’s Food Systems Institute in the U.K., Bobo traveled to nearly 60 countries as a senior advisor for global food policy at the U.S. State Department, and he penned the 2021 book Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices — all after a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central Africa.

Bobo traces his food-related journey back to his childhood in Indiana, where his family kept a huge garden, growing and canning pretty much every fruit and vegetable that would grow there. “As a child, I did not enjoy being forced to work in the garden, so I never thought I would end up in a food and agriculture career,” he says with a laugh. “But ultimately, it was invaluable, because I developed a hands-on appreciation for what it takes to put food on the table.”

Bobo plans on taking full advantage of L.A.’s extraordinary food culture and diversity in his quest to help the RFI reach its full potential as a global powerhouse. But he’s not ruling out the intergalactic just yet.

“I know he doesn’t use a light saber, but I’ve always been inspired by Han Solo and his ability to find creative solutions,” says Bobo, with a winking tone Harrison Ford would have been proud to deploy. “The best way to solve any problems — on Earth or elsewhere — is to think differently about the challenges we face.”

Read more from UCLA Magazine’s Spring 2025 issue.