- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
For Women's History Month in March, Doris Howes Calloway, who passed away in 2001, has a career worth exploring. The pioneering nutrition scientist who served as a researcher and administrator at UC Berkeley for 27 years is being honored by her students and fellow nutrition experts in a series of articles in the journal Nutrition Today.
Her first research job was for the U.S. Army, at the Armed Forces Food and Container Institute in Chicago, where in 1959 she won the first of many awards, a plaque naming her “Man of the Year” for research, according to a UC Berkeley news release. After a brief stint at the Stanford Research Institute, Calloway was appointed professor of nutrition at UC Berkeley in 1963 and retired in 1990.
The most recent Nutrition Today article, “Doris Howes Calloway: Exceptional Role Model, Mentor and Humanitarian,” was authored by Mary Blackburn, UC Cooperative Extension health and nutrition advisor for Alameda County; Janet King, UC Berkeley Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology emeritus professor; Nancy Butte, Baylor College Department of Pediatrics emeritus professor; Suzanne Murphy, University of Hawaii Cancer Center emeritus professor; Allison Yates, retired USDA Agricultural Research Service deputy director for the North Atlantic Area; and Molly Kretsch, retired USDA Agricultural Research Service deputy administrator.
“Her memorable humanitarian spirit, compassion, sensitivity and the lens through which she viewed diversity, equity, and inclusion resonated with people worldwide,” wrote the authors of Calloway. “Her endearing personal qualities and professional ethics enhanced her stature as a trailblazing nutrition scientist, outstanding role model, exceptional mentor, and worldwide social justice benefactor in nutrition.”
The series of nine articles begins chronicling her career with "Doris Howes Calloway—A Woman Who Changed Nutrition Around the World.” Subsequent articles focus on Calloway's research, the impact of her work at the time she published the findings, and the continuing influence they have on contemporary scientific discourse around human nutrition, dietetics and public health.
The other articles are
- Doris Howes Calloway: A Pioneer in Human Nutrition Research. Nutrition Today. Vol. 57, Number 3, May/June 2023.
- Doris Howes Calloway Improving Food Composition Tables. Nutrition Today. Volume 57, Number 4, July/August 2022.
- Doris Howes Calloway: Contributions to US Department of Agriculture Human Metabolic Research. Nutrition Today. Volume 57, Number 5, September/October 2022.
- Doris Howes Calloway: Her Work and Legacy on Nutritionally Vulnerable Populations in North America. Volume 57, Number 6, November/December 2022.
- Doris Howes Calloway: A Multi-country Study of the Impact of Moderate Malnutrition. Nutrition Today. Volume 58, Number 1, January/February 2023.
- Doris Howes Calloway: An Exemplary Administrator and Leader. Nutrition Today. Volume 58, Number 2, March/April 2023.
- Doris Howes Calloway: Impact on National and International Food and Nutrition Policy. Nutrition Today. Volume 58, Number 3, May/June 2023.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Several of Calloway's former students are working on a book chronicling her role in establishing the research base for addressing nutrition and health problems across the lifespan.
If you knew Calloway, and would be willing to write a few sentences on your interactions with her, please contact Mary Blackburn at mlblackburn@ucanr.edu.
A renowned human nutrition scientist, Calloway was recruited as chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at UC Berkeley in 1961. She is known worldwide for her pioneering metabolic research in food irradiation, food composition, nutritional needs during space travel, protein and energy requirements, nutrient needs during pregnancy and lactation, and functional consequences of malnutrition on health and well-being of populations – particularly vulnerable populations. Of note is her work on the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council and Food and Nutrition Board to establish the 1969-1974 and 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances, and her advocacy on the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Nutritional Sciences for the reduction of hunger and malnutrition.
As the first woman appointed to the position of provost at UC Berkeley, she advocated forcefully, and persistently, for hiring and promoting women, and for racial/ethnic diversity among faculty. In 1999, the Regents of the University of California created an endowed chair in human nutrition at Berkeley in her name.