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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventive Health, a new research center at Oregon State University focused on healthy eating and whole foods, will celebrate its official opening on Wednesday, June 6.

The public reception will be from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. at the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, at 26^th and Campus Way on the OSU campus.

The event will honor Bob and Charlee Moore, founders of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, whose $5 million gift made the new center possible.

Speaking at the event will be the new Moore Family Center director, Emily Ho, who is an associate professor of nutrition and a principal investigator in the Linus Pauling Institute at OSU. Tammy Bray, dean of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, will also speak, along with OSU President Ed Ray. Bob and Charlee Moore will both be in attendance.

The academic center will build on the College of Public Health and Human Sciences' research on nutrition, childhood obesity and related topics, and help promote healthy eating throughout Oregon and beyond.

"With a focus on whole foods, including whole grains, the center will be a catalyst in bringing together campus educators, researchers and those in community outreach to address our nation's health in practical, concrete ways," Ho said. "There is a huge gap between science and application, which our center is uniquely positioned to address."

The gift provides endowments for the center's director and an additional professor, along with two programmatic funds to support the center's research and outreach, including a fund focused on childhood obesity.

This was the second largest gift OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences has ever received. Its Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families was established in 2007 through an $8 million commitment from the late Oregon philanthropist.

Bob and Charlee Moore started their business in 1978 in an historic flour mill near Oregon City, with a mission to grind whole grains into flours, cereals and mixes for the local community and move people back to the basics with healthy whole grains, high-fiber and complex carbohydrates. Now based in Milwaukie, Ore., Bob's Red Mill has become a leading provider of whole grain natural foods with international distribution.

Guided by the university's strategic plan, The Campaign for OSU has raised more than $800 million toward its $1 billion goal.