UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Audrey Maretzki, professor of food science and nutrition in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, recently was awarded the Helen Denning Ullrich Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Nutrition Education for her years of service as a champion for nutrition education, local food systems and food-security issues.

The society's highest honor, the award annually recognizes lifelong excellence in nutrition education. Maretzki's contributions to the society and to the field include being the first person to serve as both president of the organization and editor of the society's journal. She was responsible for administration of Pennsylvania's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and collaborated in the development of the Pennsylvania Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program and the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network.

"Dr. Maretzki is the consummate land-grant scholar, being totally committed to extending the reach of the university to the people," says Robert Steele, dean of the college. "The Penn State community is thrilled to see her get this recognition for what has been a career-long effort."

"This is an outstanding recognition of Dr. Maretzki's invaluable contributions to the field of nutrition education nationally and internationally," says John Floros, professor and head of the department of food science. "She has been instrumental in connecting food, diet, nutrition and health, and she has worked tirelessly to fight malnutrition and improve the living conditions of poor women and their families in the United States and abroad.

"Among Audrey's many accomplishments has been the establishment of the Family and Community Food Systems Impact Group within the Department of Food Science at Penn State. The group's mission is to promote sustainable family and community food systems that help address the needs of limited-resource families."

Maretzki earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Penn State and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining the Penn State faculty in 1985, she taught at the University of Hawaii. She is a recipient of the 2002 Penn State Award for Faculty Outreach, and the 1987 W. LaMarr Kopp Faculty International Achievement Award. She also has been a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand and a visiting scientist with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

While at the University of Hawaii, she was a driving force for curriculum development and evaluation for diverse populations. In 1981, while on special assignment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Maretzki led the process for national implementation of the Nutrition Education and Training Program.

Helen Denning Ullrich, for whom the society's Award of Excellence is named, was a food and nutrition specialist with Penn State Cooperative Extension in the early 1950s. Ullrich was instrumental in founding the society and served as both its first executive director and the first editor of the Journal of Nutrition Education.

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EDITORS: Contact Audrey Maretzki at 814-863-4751 or by e-mail at anm1@psu.edu.

Writer/Editor Gary Abdullah Phone: 814-863-2708 E-mail: gxa2@psu.edu