KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Fran Churchill is the first woman to be named president of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM). Her milling industry career spans four decades, including positions as head miller and plant manager for The Pillsbury Co., General Mills, The Mennel Milling Co., Conagra and C.H. Guenther & Son.

The Kansas State University (KSU) milling science graduate moved into education first as a high school math teacher and then as the North American Millers’ Association Professor of Milling at KSU, where she’s spent the last 12 years, teaching future generations the ins and outs of milling. 

Churchill is a longtime supporter of the IAOM, serving as treasurer and vice president, and having leadership roles on the Employee Relations Committee, Education Committee and Women in Milling Chairperson. She has been a member of the IAOM since 1984. 

World Grain recently talked with Churchill about her time in the industry, improving diversity, challenges and opportunities as well as her plans for the next several months.  

WG: What attracted you to the milling industry initially and what kept you involved for your entire career?

Churchill: I spent my younger years on a farm in central Kansas, where my dad grew wheat among other crops. I had many trips with him to the elevator and playing in the wheat truck. I had a cousin teach me how to make bread, when I was only 5 or 6 years old; that was really my initial interest. When I got to Kansas State University, I was a music education major and took my science classes as part of general education requirements. I thought this science stuff is really fun, and music is one of those things where it’s so competitive and so hard to get a job. When I thought about science, I immediately thought about agriculture, and, frankly, immediately thought about wheat.

My older sister who had been a student here suggested looking at grain science. They gave me a milling science adviser and I forgot about the baking thing pretty quick. I signed up for one of the first milling classes and realized I really like this. 

In the years I was at K-State, we actually had five women in the program, which even for then that was a lot. All five graduated, but me and one other were the only two that went into the industry.

What’s kept me here the whole time? It just goes back to wheat for me. You’re making something that most people use and consume, and there’s a lot of satisfaction in that at the end of the day.

WG: What made you move into education?

Churchill: My entire career I seemed to work in older mills, with older equipment. I hit a point where I was in a couple of mills that closed for business reasons. I had gotten downsized from General Mills in Buffalo, New York, US, and at that point I had two job offers and one was in Knoxville, Tennessee, US. The family really liked northeast Tennessee so I decided to take that job, but I wasn’t sure how long it was going to last because it was a location that did family flour and small packages. It didn’t last as long as I had hoped it would, but we wanted to be in northeast Tennessee so I thought about what else I could do. I decided to teach high school math for a few years because that’s the most credit hours in any one subject I had taken in college. 

Then K-State called and wanted me to interview for the position I’m currently in. I was like, it’s the best of both worlds here. I can teach others about the milling process, so here I am.

 WG: What can be done to attract more students to the milling program at KSU and the milling industry in general? 

Churchill: We traditionally focused on the rural Kansas farm kids and organizations like FFA and 4H. I think we’re getting more and more students from major metropolitan areas, and we need to expand into the STEM or STEAM arena, and start recruiting those science students, as well. The traditional avenues are good, but we need to branch into science and technology students as well. 

We always get complaints that K-State students always want to move back to Kansas, and it’s probably true. We need to get the milling industry to do some recruiting wherever they are, in the cities and the regions where they are located. We need to attract out-of-state students, so if they want to go back home, there’s a place where they can go where there’s probably a flour mill. We definitely need industry support and collaboration in doing those sorts of things. 

WG: What can be done to get more women into the program?

Churchill: Again, maybe that is getting to a STEM academy or a STEM department in a high school, where there might be more women, and more women who might be interested in a science-based or a technical program. The milling industry usually starts everybody in a technical training role, which may be a little bit daunting unless you grew up super mechanical or had the type of exposure. If we can at least focus on the women who are interested in science and try to pull them that way, it may be another avenue.

I tell our prospective students that once they get into a company, if they find a different avenue or part of the company/business that they like, many times the company will help you get there. There’s just so many different things you can do in a grain processing facility or a milling company.

I’ve been really happy to see a lot of our recent female graduates from here go into technical milling, and they love it. I love technical milling. I love going out in a mill and making sure it’s set up correctly.

WG: Beyond education, how does the industry attract and maintain women into the mills themselves? What are some of the current roadblocks?

Churchill: People have no clue how flour gets made and they are not thinking about the level of sanitation and food safety in mills today. It is just a million times better than when I was first in the industry.

With recruiting overall, we need more awareness about what we actually do. Wheat goes in one side and flour comes out the other, but what happens in between? We have to find ways to get more of that message out, that the process itself is clean and it’s all about food. It’s very hands-on, and you’re working with a team to make something that people are going to use and hopefully enjoy what they make with it.

WG: Do you think that experience of working in a mill is improved or different for women today?

Churchill: It’s definitely improved, but it’s sad to say we still hear about instances, and I think these are more localized, where women don’t have good experiences. It may be because of a specific person at a plant, where they run into old attitudes, but the companies themselves are much more aware and are doing a better job. I would challenge the companies to make sure they always know what is going on at the plant level and work at the inclusivity at the plant level. Hopefully the leadership team at the plant is working to make sure that message gets out to not just management but everyone in the plant. We have to make sure the plant is a comfortable place for a woman to want to work. 

WG: Increasing diversity has been a focus for the industry and IAOM for a few years. What do you think of the progress made so far?

Churchill: I think we have barely scratched the surface; it is such a slow process. I think we’ve done some really good things with the Women in Milling initiative, especially at the IAOM annual conference. There’s been some good awareness come out of the Women in Milling events we have at the annual conference. This last time around we had a World Café, organized by small groups at tables, and each had a topic or questions to discuss. That went really well. 

We need to expand the awareness that we’re here, we’re not leaving, we have a lot to contribute, and we may have a little different perspective or viewpoint, but we’re going to make great contributions. We’ve talked about expanding that type of program down to the district meeting level, and maybe we will catch more of the folks who are actually in the plants. 

WG: What are some of the goals you have for the IAOM during your presidency?

Churchill: Going hand in hand with awareness of what we do in this industry is to get more and more companies, more and more mills involved in the recruiting effort, not just for K-State students but for milling employees in general. IAOM got some neat things started, like the initiative with the Girl Scouts and the programs at Cowley College. We need to keep working on those. 

We’re also starting on some short educational videos, where we have someone explaining a task in the mill. I think those are going to be really helpful as we bring new people into the mills. One of the biggest things is I’m here as an educator, so recruiting and education are things I’d like to focus on.

People hear all the time that real diversity is the diversity of thought and the different ways of doing things that different groups can bring to the table to improve an organization. That’s why we have to still work on increasing awareness for women and minorities. We have to let them bring their gifts to the table, even if they do things a little bit differently. 

WG: Is recruiting workers the biggest challenge for the industry right now? 

Churchill: I think it is. One of the biggest challenges is we have a lot of people who are retiring and how do we address that loss of milling knowledge? Hopefully companies are thinking of that and making plans to address that.

Milling is half science and there’s a lot we can do with science to improve our processes. But there’s still the craft that has been passed down from generation to generation. How do we make sure, no matter how automatic the mills get, that we maintain that craft part and not lose it from previous generations?

WG: How does it feel to be the first woman to lead the organization?

Churchill: I don’t really think about it as being the first woman president. I’m president of this organization and am focused on what can I do to take it to the next step, what I can do as a person. But at the same time, as a female, I bring a different viewpoint and a different way of looking at life quite frankly. 

One problem I ran into later in my career is that I would do things differently than the guys in charge and they didn’t like that. There was a number of years where it was tough to go to an IAOM conference and be one of only a few female millers there. It was definitely the “guys,” and they stuck with each other. Back then I didn’t think about myself being different, but that’s where I was acutely aware of those differences. 

WG: What’s your favorite thing about the industry?

Churchill: I love the process itself, but above and beyond that, as I always tell prospective students, this industry is amazing in that there are a lot of really good companies to work for. And there are just some fantastic people in this industry, just a really good bunch of folks. The complications I faced being a woman in a man’s world aside, it’s still a fantastic industry to work in.

WG: What do you hope will be your legacy to the industry?

Churchill: I think hopefully I can be an inspiration to others, especially to women, until we get to that point where it’s much more accepted, or there are many more women and minorities in leadership positions in this industry. If I can do it, they can do it. I look at our recent female graduates coming into the industry and how smart they are and how much more they know than I did at the same point; they certainly can do it. Hopefully I provide some inspiration.  I just didn’t work a few years and leave like so many women do; here I am.

WG: What advice would you give someone considering a career in the industry?

Churchill: If I’m talking to a high school student, I would say take all the math and science you can and get a good background there. If you attend a college or university, no matter what program you’re in, get involved in student organizations. That is where you can start working on your leadership experience. At the end of the day, it’s all about managing and leading people. One of my favorite things was taking a team of people and figuring out how to get this team to give you their best, get the best product out there and have the best plant performance. You need to prepare yourself for that role. Even once you’re in the industry, you always should be willing to improve yourself, whether that’s education or training, or working on your leadership skills.