Newswise — CHICAGO – Registered dietitian Margaret Pipkin Garner, assistant dean for health education and outreach in the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama, has been named the 2011 recipient of the American Dietetic Association’s highest honor, the Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award.
Garner, a resident of Tuscaloosa, Ala., received the Copher Award on September 24 at the Opening Session of ADA’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in San Diego, Calif. An ADA member since 1971, Garner is a leading authority on nutrition education for physicians, residents and medical students and the training and mentoring of registered dietitians.
The Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award is named for an early 20th-century pioneer in dietetics who was recognized by the British and French governments for her service in World War I and was chief dietitian at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. After her death, a gift from her husband to ADA established the award in her honor.
Including serving as assistant dean, Garner is the director of health promotion and wellness at the student health center; director of nutrition and education services in the School of Medicine’s department of family medicine; and an adjunct assistant professor in the department of human nutrition and hospitality management’s coordinated dietetics program.
According to Garner’s colleagues: “Throughout Margaret’s amazing and multifaceted career of 40 years, she has unselfishly given back to her profession and to the American Dietetic Association through extensive, active participation at the national, state and district levels. She has been innovative and creative, accomplishing many firsts, particularly in the areas of advocacy and public policy, reimbursement for RD services and medical nutrition therapy, wellness programs, promotion of post-RD educational opportunities and RD involvement in medical education.”
Garner helped establish and was the first chair of the Alabama Food and Nutrition Exposition, a unique partnership of the Alabama Dietetic Association, Alabama Dietary Managers Association and Alabama School Nutrition Association.
Within the American Dietetic Association, Garner has served in many leadership roles including ADA’s Board of Directors and Commission on Dietetic Registration. She was a member and chair of ADA’s Legislative and Public Policy Committee, Political Action Committee, Coding and Coverage Committee and Council on Education, and a member of ADA’s Strategic Planning Task Force. Garner is a past president of the Tuscaloosa District Dietetic Association and the Alabama Dietetic Association.
Garner is a graduate of Georgia Southern College. She received a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, where she also did postgraduate work in the field of nutrition and mental retardation.
The American Dietetic Association is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org.
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