President’s Message
Deborah A. Hutcheson, DCN, RD, LDN, CNSD, CDE
New Name, Same Commitment to Public’s Nutritional Health: American Dietetic Association Becomes Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Saturday, September 24, 2011 Media Contacts: Ryan O’Malley, Allison MacMunn 800/877-1600, ext. 4769, 4802 media@eatright.org
The American Dietetic Association, as of January 1, 2012, will change its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. When the shock of the announcement hit as Sylvia Escott-Stump, ADA President, announced the groundbreaking news, I decided to keep an open mind and consider the new name. First, as any good academic, I immediately looked up the definition on my iPhone. Academy is defined as a “society of learned persons organized to advance art, science, or literature.”1 As I looked at the presentations, posters and research abounding at FNCE this past week, my thoughts started to wrap around the idea -- what an appropriate name to describe the wealth of knowledgeable individuals, diversity of expertise, research and publications all within one society dedicated to the nutritional wellbeing of the population. How much more befitting a description to define the evolution of our organization into what we are now. We are much more than the definition of our previous name “association” meaning “an organization of persons having a common interest.”1 Yes, we do have a common interest but look how far we have progressed over the years. So when you are spending countless hours changing letterhead, business cards and acronyms or stumbling over the name in your first presentation of the New Year, remember we have evolved. Be proud of our accomplishments thus far and look to the life changing opportunities still ahead for the soon to be “Pennsylvania Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.”
Wishing you good health,
Deb
1 Merriam Webster online dictionary, 2011 ed. Available at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reference. Accessed September 30, 2011.
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