Moderator and Speaker Biographical Sketches
Elaine Gantz Berman, M.S.P.H., a representative of the Colorado Congressional District 1, was appointed to the Colorado State Board of Education in January 2007 and was elected to a 6-year term in November 2008. Ms. Berman has dedicated her professional work and community service to improving the lives of Colorado’s children. Prior to serving on the state board, she served for 8 years on the Denver Board of Education, including 4 years as president. As a member of the state board of education, Ms. Berman was instrumental in the adoption of the state’s first Comprehensive Academic Health Education Standards. In her position as a state board member, she works to improve teacher effectiveness and revise state assessments to align with the newly adopted 10 model content standards. Ms. Berman is committed to revamping Colorado’s education system to reflect the skills required for the 21st century. Ms. Berman received her M.S.P.H. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Karen Chapman-Novakofski, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.N., is professor of nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is well recognized in the field of nutrition education practice and research and has held leadership roles in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Society for Nutrition, the American Diabetes Association, and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior which have included organizing symposia, workshops, and webinars. As editor in chief for the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, she knows the talents of a wide network of scientists, educators, and policy advocates working in schools in the area of nutrition education.
Dr. Chapman-Novakofski has also worked with the state Board of Education standards of Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee as part of her research concerning Web-based nutrition education in middle schools. She has also worked with Latino/Hispanic populations and cultural perspectives on both food and nutrition. Having worked in community nutrition since 1991, Dr. Chapman-Novakofski has worked with many local, state, and federal partners, including the state Nutrition Education and Training programs for teachers, land-grant university extension services, school wellness committees, and parent-teacher associations. Dr. Chapman-Novakofski received her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her M.S. degree from Eastern Illinois University.
Helen Chipman, Ph.D., R.D., is the National Program Leader in the Nutrition Division of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For more than a decade, Dr. Chipman has provided national leadership to land grant universities that conduct low-income nutrition education. In this capacity, she has served as a liaison among universities and federal agencies and has fostered shared understanding across organizational systems and structures. She has led the development and implementation of a socioecological framework for nutrition education and paraprofessional core competencies, and the completion of four national reports. Previously, Dr. Chipman provided administrative leadership for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, Food Stamp Nutrition Education (FSNE, now SNAP-Ed) and its associated state nutrition network, and had teaching, advising, and research responsibilities as an extension specialist and professor at South Dakota State University. Dr. Chipman is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Her publications focus primarily on low-income nutrition education programming and risk communication. Dr. Chipman received a Ph.D. in food science and human nutrition from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, with an emphasis in applied nutrition education.
Isobel Contento, Ph.D., is the Mary Swartz Rose Professor of Nutrition and Education and Coordinator of the Program in Nutrition, Teachers College Columbia University. Her research focuses on factors influencing food choice, particularly among children and adolescents, and the development and evaluation of school-based programs linking childhood obesity prevention to food system education. She is particularly interested in the use of theory and research evidence to design nutrition education programs. Recently completed is a study aimed to reduce the risk of overweight in middle school youth through an emphasis on personal agency and autonomous motivation in healthful food and activity choices through classroom
and educational game formats. She is currently conducting a study that examines the impact of education and school food policy, individually and combined, in assisting fifth-graders to eat well and maintain a healthy weight. She has been a member of several national advisory committees. She has published numerous articles, book chapters, and has served on the editorial boards of several journals. She also provides workshops to nutrition education practitioners. The second edition of her book, Nutrition Education, Linking Research, Theory, and Practice, was published in 2011. Dr. Contento received her B.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Patricia Crawford, Dr.P.H., R.D., is director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health, Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist in the Department of Nutritional Science and Toxicology, and adjunct professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Crawford directed the longitudinal National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Growth and Health Study, a study of the development of cardiovascular risk factors in African American and white girls, as well as the Five-State FitWIC Initiative to Prevent Childhood Obesity. She has developed numerous obesity prevention materials, including the Fit Families novella series for Latino families and Let’s Get Moving, an activity program for those who work with young children. Dr. Crawford has served on a number of advisory committees, including the California Legislative Task Force on Diabetes and Obesity. Her current studies include evaluations of large community-based obesity initiatives and school-based policy interventions. Dr. Crawford is currently a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention and has served as a member or chair of three IOM obesity-related planning committees. She also served as a member of the IOM Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention. She earned a Ph.D. in public health and completed her training as a registered dietitian at the University of California, Berkeley.
Robert Crosnoe, Ph.D., is professor in the Department of Sociology and Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. His main research area is the life course and human development—specifically, the connections among health, child and adolescent development, and education and how these connections can help us understand inequalities related to race, social class, and immigration. Dr. Crosnoe received his Ph.D. in sociology from Stanford University and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Carolina Population Center and the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Karen Weber Cullen, Dr.P.H., R.D., is professor of pediatrics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine. Her primary research interest is the prevention of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. Her current research includes the evaluation of a website on healthy eating and physical activity for high school students; testing the use of “nudges” in the cafeteria to improve student selection of fruit and vegetables, and evaluating the impact of the new school meal guidelines on student consumption and costs. Dr. Cullen served as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committees on Nutrition Standards for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs and the Review of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Meal Requirements. Dr. Cullen’s professional memberships include the Society for Nutrition Education, the American Dietetic Association, the School Nutrition Association, the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, and the Texas Dietetic Association (Distinguished Scientist Award in 2001). Dr. Cullen has a master of science in nutrition from Case Western Reserve University and a doctorate of public health in health promotion and health education from The University of Texas School of Public Health.
Jason B. Dane is a teacher in the Kinetic Wellness Department and the course coordinator for freshman health curriculum at New Trier High School in Northfield, Illinois. Mr. Dane is an active member of the Illinois Association for Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and the American Alliance for Association for Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAPHERD). He is a leader in health education at New Trier High School in pioneering and implementing nutrition lessons and programs for students and staff. Mr. Dane has presented at numerous workshops on nutrition education at the local and national levels, and his creative and engaging lessons are seen as innovative by his peers. Educators around the country frequently use him as a resource to provide lesson ideas and curriculum guidance. Mr. Dane was recognized for his excellence in the classroom by being awarded the 2012 Illinois Health Educator of the Year. This award was given in recognition of his “high professional standards, his promotion of physical health and well-being, his dedication to teaching, and his service to the profession.” In addition to the recognition from his state association, Mr. Dane was recently named as the 2013 Midwest District AAPHERD Health K-12 Teacher of the Year.
Norris E. Dickard, M.A., directs the Healthy Students Group at the U.S. Department of Education. He leads a team with a portfolio of grant programs and technical assistance centers related to U.S. government strategic investments that support student success (substance abuse and violence preven-
tion, physical education, school mental health programs, and school-based health care). Mr. Dickard serves on numerous federal interagency working groups, including the demand reduction group of the White House, Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Prevention Council, and the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, and has over two decades of experience in public policy and public administration. He previously served in the Clinton administration as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, and served on numerous White House taskforces where he played a key role in the development of national policy to enhance American competitiveness, including key components of the federal School-to-Career and Digital Opportunity initiatives. Mr. Dickard received his master’s degree from Harvard University.
Eileen Ferruggiaro, R.D., Ph.D., is Chief of the Nutrition Promotion and Technical Assistance Branch at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Child Nutrition Division, Food and Nutrition Service. This branch is responsible for Team Nutrition resources and publications, the HealthierUS School Challenge, the Child Nutrition Labeling program, the Food Buying Guide, Nutrient Standard Menu Planning software, National Food Service Management Institute grants, and other educational and technical resources. She previously served as a nutrition information specialist at the Food and Nutrition Information Center working on the International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements database and the USDA Nutrient Standard Menu Planning Software Evaluation Team projects. Dr. Ferruggiaro also served as a food service educator with the National Food Service Management Institute, as a technical information specialist with the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, and as a public health nutritionist and university faculty. She received her Ph.D. in human nutrition from Syracuse University.
Jay Hirschman, M.P.H., C.N.S., has worked in public health nutrition at the local, state, and federal levels, including 25 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service. In his current position as Staff Director, he is responsible for managing the staff conducting the evaluation studies and policy analysis for all domestic Special Nutrition Programs, including WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the other Child Nutrition Programs, and the Food Distribution Programs. Mr. Hirschman previously served as a State WIC Supervisor and as the first director for the nutrition policy and analysis staff at the then newly formed USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Mr. Hirschman is an American College of Nutrition board-certified nutrition specialist
and previously served as elected chair of the American Public Health Association Food and Nutrition Section (APHA/FN). In 2009 he received the APHA/FN Mary C. Egan award, which “goes to those public health nutritionists who pioneer fresh approaches to public health nutrition, nutrition education, and those groups with special dietary needs.”
Carol Chase Huegli, M.S., R.D., is the associate director for the Nutrition Services Division at the California Department of Education. She oversees the administration of the Child Nutrition and U.S. Department of Agriculture Foods Programs in California, which includes the development of nutrition education and training programs for sponsoring agencies. Ms. Chase Huegli previously served for the California WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) program and the Riverside County Department of Public Health Nutrition Services. During her tenure at WIC, Ms. Chase Huegli was responsible for managing the nutrition education, training, breastfeeding promotion, and outreach activities. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego, and her master’s degree in nutrition science from the University of California, Davis.
Carlette KyserPegram, M.Ed., is an education program specialist at the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Healthy Students. She serves as competition manager for the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) which provide grants to local educational agencies and community-based organizations in the District of Columbia to initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs (including after-school programs) for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Ms. KyserPegram is a former teacher and has experience in the practical application of policy and curriculum at the ground level. She received her M.Ed. from Howard University.
Steven M. Ladd, Ed.D., is superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District in Elk Grove, California, the fifth largest district in California. The Elk Grove Unified School District has been recognized at both the state and national levels for the district’s commitment to nutritional education. Dr. Ladd has more than 40 years of experience as an educator across the United States, from Florida to California. His areas of interest include leadership development and improved academic achievement. In addition, Dr. Ladd has made closing the achievement gap a key component of his agenda at Elk Grove Unified. He currently serves on the National Superintendents Roundtable and the California School Boards Association’s Superintendents Advisory Council, and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the Horace Mann League of the USA. Dr. Ladd received a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University, and a mas-
ter’s degree in administration and supervision of vocational education and a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts education from Florida International University.
Susan Nitzke, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita and Extension Specialist in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). Dr. Nitzke’s research and extension career at UW–Madison spanned almost three decades, and she served as chair for the Nutritional Sciences Department at UW–Madison from 2008 until she retired in 2011. Dr. Nitzke continues to work part-time on research and extension projects, and she has provided leadership on many statewide and national projects in nutrition education. Her work as a member of the committee that developed nutrition education guidelines for the state of Wisconsin is one example. Dr. Nitzke received her Ph.D. from UW–Madison.
Esther Chinyere Okeiyi, Ph.D., R.D., is a tenured professor and program director for the Dietetic Internship program and didactic programs in dietetics at North Carolina Central University. She previously taught and directed the nutrition programs at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, and at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. Okeiyi has served as Chairperson of the North Carolina Board of Dietetics and Nutrition, and Liaison for the North Carolina Dietetic Association. She has also served on several committees at North Carolina Central University. Dr. Okeiyi is a registered dietitian, and she received her Ph.D. in nutrition from Mississippi State University.
Carol Olander, Ph.D., recently completed a career of more than 30 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). She previously served as director of the Family Programs Staff in the Office of Research and Analysis. In that position, she was responsible for managing evaluation studies and policy analyses for USDA’s largest domestic nutrition program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly the Food Stamp Program. Over the course of her career, Dr. Olander was responsible for a variety of nutrition education initiatives, including a rigorous evaluation of the agency’s school-based Team Nutrition pilot. She also co-chaired the Inter-Agency Working Group on the Evaluation of Nutrition Education. A recipient of multiple awards for her contributions to the introduction of electronic benefit transfer systems to SNAP, Dr. Olander also worked with the Senate Agriculture Committee on the 2000 Farm Bill and consulted with the U.S. Agency for International Development on nutrition assistance initiatives in Brazil. Prior to joining FNS, she taught social psychology at Marshall University. Dr. Olander received her Ph.D. in psychology from Northwestern University.
Phillip S. Rogers, Ed.D., is executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), an organization that represents professional standards boards and commissions and state departments of education in all 50 states and the District of Columbia which was founded in 1928 to exercise leadership in matters related to the preparation and certification of professional school personnel. Prior to NASDTEC, Dr. Rogers served as executive director of the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), an organization that oversees professional certification of teachers and principals. Before his tenure at the EPSB, Dr. Rogers served as the founding director of the Allen County Schools Family Resource Center, recognized as Kentucky’s Outstanding Family Resource Center by the Kentucky Association of Guidance Counselors. Prior to founding the Family Resource Center, he directed the Allen County public mental health clinic, where he specialized as a child and family therapist. Dr. Rogers has performed research and evaluations for a variety of organizations and programs, including the Kentucky Institute for Educational Research, the National Center for Family Literacy, the Kentucky Safe Schools Project, and the Kentucky Department for Juvenile Justice. He received a B.S. degree in counseling from Liberty University in Virginia, an M.A. in child development from Western Kentucky University, and a doctorate in education evaluation from the University of Louisville.
Mary Roseman, Ph.D., R.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management at the University of Mississippi. Previously, she held faculty appointments as associate and assistant professor at the University of Kentucky and instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her primary undergraduate and graduate teaching areas include food service management, marketing, research methods, human resources, and strategic management. Dr. Roseman has published numerous articles in nutrition and hospitality journals and presented more than 70 peer-reviewed presentations and posters at national and international conferences in such areas as school nutrition, food safety, and healthy menus in restaurants and schools. Recently, she developed and participated in testing and piloting the Connect Chefs to Schools Training Program for the National Food Service Management Institute. Dr. Roseman is an active member of several national organizations, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Educators. She has been awarded the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Outstanding Dietetic Educator of the Year for Region V, Oklahoma State University’s College of Human Environmental Sciences Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, Kentucky Dietetic Association’s Outstanding Dietitian of the Year, and Oklahoma’s Outstanding Young Dietitian of the Year. Dr. Roseman received her Ph.D. in food service systems
management from Oklahoma State University, an M.B.A. from University of Central Oklahoma, and a B.S. in food and nutrition from Western Kentucky University.
Karla P. Shelnutt, Ph.D., R.D., is an assistant professor and Extension Nutrition Specialist at the University of Florida. Her academic appointment is 70 percent extension in the Department of Family, Youth & Community Sciences and 30 percent teaching in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. She is a registered dietitian and works closely with first-year students in the Master of Science-Dietetic Internship Program as part of their Nutrition Education and Wellness Concentration, where they spend a year learning about extension and developing nutrition education materials. Since starting her current position, Dr. Shelnutt has provided statewide leadership for her extension program that focuses on obesity prevention in children, adolescents, and young adults. She has developed curricula and extension publications that teach families how to make better nutrition and physical activity choices to lead healthier lifestyles. These curricula incorporate Florida’s Sunshine State Standards to increase utilization by Florida teachers. As a result, she has worked on the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Nutrition Education Standards Committee to address the need for national nutrition education standards. She also works with a multistate research team using community-based participatory research to develop effective interventions designed to prevent weight gain in college students. Dr. Shelnutt received her B.S. and Ph.D. in food science and human nutrition from the University of Florida, and received a master’s degree in clinical nutrition and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Anastasia Snelling, Ph.D., is an associate professor and the Associate Dean in the School of Education, Teaching, and Health at American University. Dr. Snelling has been a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a registered dietitian for more than 30 years and a fellow in the American College of Nutrition. Her current research is in the area of childhood obesity and the role of schools in promoting healthful foods and lifestyles. This work is primarily in Washington, DC, studying vulnerable student populations in the DC Public and Public Charter Schools. Dr. Snelling received her Ph.D. from American University.
Virginia A. Stallings, M.D., is professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and director of the Nutrition Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a pediatrician and a specialist in nutrition and growth in children with chronic illness. Her research interests are in areas of nutrition-related growth and body composition in
healthy children and those with chronic disease, including obesity, sickle cell disease, osteoporosis, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, Crohn’s disease, HIV, and congenital heart disease. Current research includes a longitudinal study of the impact of phytoestrogens from soy infant formula on growth and development of infants. She has been extensively involved in pediatric nutrition clinical care and research for more than 25 years. Dr. Stallings plays a broader role in the community of nutrition scientists and physicians as a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences, the council of the American Society for Nutrition, and a past member of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board. She previously served as Chair of the IOM Committee on Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools. Dr. Stallings also served as Chair of the IOM Committee on Nutrition Standards for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, which authored the 2010 recommendations to revise the school lunch and breakfast programs. She received her M.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
P. Fred Storti, M.S., is executive director of the Minnesota Elementary School Principals’ Association (MESPA) in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to assuming this position of statewide and national advocacy, Mr. Storti gained 27 years of experience as a principal/superintendent in Minnesota urban, suburban, and rural schools. In his broad stewardship for elementary and middle level principals, Mr. Storti also serves on several statewide committees, including the Alliance for Student Achievement and the P-20 Committee. In addition, he has served as chair of the National Association of Elementary School Principals Executive Directors, the national elementary and middle level principal association. Mr. Storti received a bachelor of science degree in elementary education, and a master of science and specialist degrees from Minnesota State University.
Janey Thornton, Ph.D., was appointed by President Barack Obama as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS) on April 1, 2009. Dr. Thornton is responsible for improving the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting science-based dietary guidance and administering USDA’s 15 nutrition assistance programs. FNCS programs work to end hunger in the United States and provide nutrition assistance, dietary guidance, nutrition policy coordination, and nutrition education. She previously served as School Nutrition Director for Hardin County Schools in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, worked with the Kentucky Department of Education, and taught vocational home economics. Dr. Thornton previously served as president of the School Nutrition Association. She has also served as president of the School Nutrition Foundation and was an active member
of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation. She received her bachelor of science degree in home economics from Western Kentucky University, her master of science degree in vocational education and school administration from the University of Kentucky, and her doctorate in hotel and restaurant management from Iowa State University.
Marilyn Townsend, Ph.D., R.D., is the Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist in the Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Townsend’s obesity prevention research focuses on improving diets and physical activity of low-income families. She has extensive experience in intervention development, assessment tool validation, and program evaluation, having conducted randomized controlled trials and quasiexperi-mental evaluation studies in low-income communities. Dr. Townsend has conducted studies on mediators of behavior change and the relationships among obesity, food insecurity, and food costs. She has published her research in theory-driven program development and implementation, nutrition educational methodologies, behavior change strategies including goal setting, methods of assessing diet costs, and program evaluation. Serving as a consultant with numerous federal and state agency professionals and university researchers, Dr. Townsend is considered an expert on the development of valid assessment tools for risk assessment and program evaluation of USDA’s food assistance and education programs with special attention to low-literate participants. She obtained her M.S. in nutrition science from the University of London (Kings College) and her Ph.D. in nutrition with emphasis on behavior from Pennsylvania State University.
Katie Wilson, Ph.D., is executive director of the National Food Service Management Institute, part of the School of Applied Science at the University of Mississippi. Previously, Dr. Wilson directed the school nutrition programs in Wisconsin for 22 years, and she is past president of the School Nutrition Association. She has a passion for school nutrition and has dedicated her career to enhancing school nutrition programs and improving program access to all children. Dr. Wilson is also credentialed as a School Nutrition Specialist and has shared her expertise with school nutrition employees, school administrators, school boards, and allied organizations across the United States, and internationally at the United Nations, in Japan and South Africa. She has a B.S. degree in dietetics, a master’s degree in food science and nutrition from the University of Wisconsin–Stout, and a Ph.D. in food service and lodging management from Iowa State University.
This page intentionally left blank.
