National food and nutrition event has distinct Carson-Newman flavor

Carson-Newman University had two connections to a recent gathering of the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals in Denver, Colorado. The Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, held Oct. 7-10, drew thousands in part to honor leaders in the field, including Susan Brantley and Barbara Ann Hughes – who both have careers that wind through Mossy Creek.

Hughes, a 1960 Carson-Newman alumna, was named the 2023 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor given by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The registered dietitian nutritionist is celebrated for her decades of advocacy for food, nutrition and health, and for being the first head of North Carolina’s Women’s, Infants and Children program.

The organization cited Hughes as a pioneer in the use of medical nutrition therapy to prevent and treat chronic conditions including coronary, renal and gastrointestinal disease, diabetes, eating disorders, hypertension and weight management.

Along with her many appointments and contributions within her field, Hughes continued to help advance C-N’s Family and Consumer Sciences discipline, serving on its FCS Advisory Board on multiple occasions. Always willing to assist the next generation pursuing a career in dietetics, she has served as preceptor for externships and field experiences for C-N students, as well as students from other universities. For her dedication, she received the C-N’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1983.

Brantley was among those presented with the Academy’s prestigious 2023 Medallion Award. Beyond her leadership as the metabolic support service coordinator at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, as well as other professional roles, Brantley is celebrated for her contributions as an advanced clinician and researcher passionate about moving the profession forward by inspiring, educating and mentoring future dietitians and nutritionists.

Beginning in 1996, she taught numerous Carson-Newman students over the course of more than two decades in C-N’s Family and Consumer Sciences Department. Described as “a quintessential servant-leader,” she served as an adjunct faculty who taught upper division nutrition courses for the Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) before advancing to assistant professor in 2020.