Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History

Sauer, Anne

Branco, Jessica

Bennett, John

Crowley, Zachary

2000

School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 1981

 

The Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy was established in 1981 under the leadership of then-president and renowned nutritionist Jean Mayer. The school was founded with the mission of bringing together biomedical, social, political, and behavioral scientists to conduct research, educational, and community service programs to improve the nutritional health and well-being of populations throughout the world.

Tufts' involvement in the field of nutrition began in the early days of the School of Medicine with the establishment of a food clinic at the Boston Dispensary. In 1918, the Frances Stern Nutrition Center was established for the training of nutritionists. The Stern Center also provided nutrition services to the New England Medical Center hospitals. Academic aspects of the program were coordinated through the Department of Education on the Medford campus.

The School of Nutrition began as an Institute established in 1976 in Medford, intended to provide for the interdisciplinary study of nutrition issues. The curriculum drew from the course offerings of Arts and Sciences, Fletcher, and the School of Medicine.

The school opened its doors in 1981 with Stanley N. Gershoff as dean. Gershoff, formerly a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, had served as director of the Institute of Nutrition. From its first class of seventeen students, the School of Nutrition Science and Policy has matured to a student body of 178 students in 2000, representing twenty-seven countries. Master of science and doctoral degree programs are offered in the social and biological sciences. Specialized training programs are available for physicians pursuing doctoral degrees in human nutrition and graduates of bachelor degree nutrition programs who wish to become registered dieticians.

Interdisciplinary programs involve faculty and scientists at all of the other seven schools at Tufts, including specialty concentrations in international food and nutrition; nutrition communications; agriculture, food and environment; and clinical nutrition, health promotion and disease prevention.

Faculty at the school include anthropologists, biomedical scientists, economists, nutritionists, epidemiologists, physicians, political scientists, and psychologists focussingon a myriad of issues with the common thread of nutrition and its role in understanding and fostering the growth and development of human populations.

The school's concern with the problems of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and abroad is reflected in the research and applied work being done by its faculty and students. Areas of specialty include the socioeconomic parameters of malnutrition, nutrition program design and implementation, social marketing and development policy. Graduates of the programs in these areas are employed in government and non-governmental agencies as well as private voluntary organizations throughout the world and in the United States.

The school is closely affiliated with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, located on the Boston campus.

Source: LOH2; BTU [Nutrition] 2000

 
 
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  • The encyclopedia seeks to capture more than 150 years of Tufts' achievements, societal contributions and outstanding alumni and faculty in concise entries. As a source of accurate factual information, the Encyclopedia can be used by anyone interested in the history of Tufts and of the people who have made it the unique institution it is.
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 Introduction
 Content
Numeric Entries
A
B
C
D
Dame, Lorin Low, 1838-1903
Dana, Charles A., 1881-1975
Dana Laboratory, 1963
Daniel Ounjian Prize in Economics,
Davies, Caroline Stodder, 1864-1939
Davies House, 1894
De Florez Prize in Human Engineering, 1964
de Pacheco, Kaye MacKinnon, ca. 1910-ca. 1985
Dean Hall, 1887-1963
Dean, Oliver, 1783-1871
Dearborn, Heman Allen, 1831-1897
Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, 1893
Department of Anesthesia, 1970
Department of Art and Art History, 1930
Department of Biochemistry, 1893
Department of Chemistry, 1882
Department of Community Health, 1930
Department of Dermatology, 1897
The Department of Economics, 1946
Department of Medicine, 1893
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
Department of Neurology, 1893
Department of Neuroscience, 1983
Department of Neurosurgery, 1951
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1893
Department of Ophthamology, 1893
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, 1906
Department of Otolaryngology, 1895
Department of Pathology, 1893
Department of Pediatrics, 1930
Department of Pharmacology, 1915
Department of Physics and Astronomy, 1854
Department of Physiology, 1893
Department of Psychiatry, 1928
Department of Radiation Oncology, 1968
Department of Radiology, 1915
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, 1955
Department of Surgery, 1893
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, 1973
Department of Urology, 1910
Dental Health Sciences Building, 1969
Dewick, Cora Alma (Polk), 1875-1977
Dewick/MacPhie Dining Hall, 1959
Dickson Professorship of English and American History, 1913
Dirlam, Arland A., 1905-1979
Dog Cart, 1900
Dolbear, Amos Emerson, 1837-1910
Donald A. Cowdery Memorial Scholarship, 1946
Dr. Benjamin Andrews Professorship of Surgery, 1987
Dr. Philip E. A. Sheridan Prize, 1977
The Drug Bust, 1970
Dudley, Henry Watson, 1831-1906
Dugger, Edward Jr., 1919-75
Durkee, Frank W., 1861-1939
Durkee, Henrietta Noble Brown, 1871-1946
E
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G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
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U
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Z
 List of Sources