Newswise — CHICAGO – Nineteen national leaders in nutrition, health and business will serve as the 2017-2018 Board of Directors of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Representing more than 100,000 credentialed practitioners, the Academy is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Board is responsible for strategic planning, policy development and fiscal management for the Academy.

Members of the Academy’s Board of Directors will serve from June 1 until May 31, 2018. They are:

Hope Barkoukis, PhD, RDN, LD, Cleveland, Ohio, Director-at-Large
Barkoukis is the interim chair and an associate professor in the nutrition department at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine.

Lucille Beseler, MS, RDN, LDN, CDE, FAND, Boca Raton, Fla., Past President
Beseler is the president and owner of the Family Nutrition Center of South Florida.

Susan Brantley, MS, RDN, LDN, CNSD, Knoxville, Tenn., House of Delegates Director
Brantley is an adjunct faculty member in the dietetics program at Carson Newman University and an instructor in the physician’s assistant program at South College.

Kevin Concannon, MSW, North Bethesda, Md., Public Member
Concannon served as Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009 until 2017.

Jo Jo Dantone-DeBarbieris, MS, RDN, LDN, CDE, FAND, LaPlace, La., Treasurer
Dantone-DeBarbieris is the president, chief executive officer and owner of Nutrition Education Resources, Inc.

Linda T. Farr, RDN, LD, FAND, San Antonio, Texas, Past Speaker, House of Delegates
Farr is the owner of Nutrition Associates of San Antonio.

Margaret P. Garner, MS, RDN, LD, CIC, FAND, Tuscaloosa, Ala., Past Treasurer
Garner is an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Alabama and the executive director of the student health center.

Manju Karkare, MS, RDN, LDN, FAND, Raleigh, N.C., Treasurer-elect
Karkare is the owner of Nutritionally Yours LLC.

Marcy Kyle, RDN, LD, CDE, FAND, Rockport, Maine, House of Delegates Speaker-elect
Kyle is regional director of nutrition and diabetes services at Pen Bay Medical Center.

Michele Delille Lites, RDN, CSO, FAND, Sacramento, Calif., Director-at-Large
Lites is a certified specialist in oncology nutrition at Kaiser Permanente’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Donna S. Martin, EdS, RDN, LD, SNS, FAND, Augusta, Ga., President
Martin is director of the Burke County school nutrition program.

Steven Miranda, SPHR, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, Vienna, Va., Public Member
Miranda is the deputy director of the management division at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Dianne Polly, JD, RDN, LDN, FAND, Memphis, Tenn., Speaker, House of Delegates
Polly is the executive director of the Shelby County Education Foundation.

Tamara Randall, MS, RDN, LD, CDE, FAND, Shaker Heights, Ohio, House of Delegates Director
Randall is an instructor and director of the master of science in public health nutrition dietetic internship in the department of nutrition at Case Western Reserve University.

Mary K. Russell, MS, RDN, LDN, FAND, Chicago, Ill., President-Elect
Russell is senior manager, U.S. nutrition medical affairs, at Baxter Healthcare and a lecturer at the Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Science.

Kevin L. Sauer, PhD, RDN, LD, Manhattan, Kan., Director-at-Large
Sauer is an associate professor of food, nutrition, dietetics and health at Kansas State University and co-principal researcher with the Center of Excellence for Food Safety Research in Child Nutrition Programs.

D. Milton Stokes, PhD, MPH, RD, FAND, St. Louis, Mo., House of Delegates Director
Stokes is director of global health and nutrition outreach at Monsanto Company.

Martin M. Yadrick, MBI, MS, RDN, FAND, Kansas City, Mo., Academy Foundation Chair
Yadrick is director of nutrition informatics for Computrition, Inc.

Patricia M. Babjak, GSLIS, Chicago, Ill., Chief Executive Officer
Babjak joined the Academy in 1975, working as director of the Commission on Dietetic Registration and executive vice president for Strategic Management and Governance prior to being named chief executive officer in 2009.

Full biographies and photos of the members of the Academy’s Board of Directors are available at www.eatrightPRO.org/BOD.

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All registered dietitians are nutritionists – but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians. The Academy’s Board of Directors and Commission on Dietetic Registration have determined that those who hold the credential registered dietitian (RD) may optionally use “registered dietitian nutritionist” (RDN) instead. The two credentials have identical meanings.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the Academy at www.eatright.org.