Bestselling Author T. Colin Campbell to Deliver Department of Nutrition's Annual Beal Lecture

T. Colin Campbell
T. Colin Campbell

The university community is invited to the Department of Nutrition’s 31st Annual Virginia A. Beal Lecture on Wednesday, March 27, at the Campus Center Auditorium, where internationally renowned nutritionist and bestselling author T. Colin Campbell will deliver the keynote address, “The Science of Nutrition, After Some Upgrading, Needs Serious Attention.”

Campbell’s lecture is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., following a student poster session and the department’s annual scholarship and award ceremony beginning at 4 p.m.

Campbell has studied the science of human health for more than 60 years, making a profound impact in education, public policy and laboratory research. He specializes in the association between diet and disease, particularly cancer. Among his bestsellers, The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.

“Engaging such a high-caliber speaker as Dr. Campbell, whose work focuses on a plant-based diet, is not only in keeping with the mission of the department but also is a unique opportunity for students to examine a timely, global health issue,” says Elena Carbone, department chair and associate professor of nutrition. “Debate about plant-based diets is a political, environmental and social issue that students need to hear in order to make informed decisions about their food and their health.”

Nancy Cohen, professor of nutrition and interim dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, adds, “The Virginia A. Beal Lecture was founded to discuss issues in nutrition from a critical perspective. Dr. Campbell’s talk is bound to be insightful, with a call to action for improving health through sound dietary advice.”

In 1989, Professor Emerita Virginia A. Beal, a nutrition pioneer, established an endowment to provide students, faculty, dietetics professionals, alumni and friends with an opportunity to discuss the challenges and advances at the forefront of the nutrition field.

The Virginia A. Beal Lectureship Fund makes possible the annual celebration of nutrition research. Beal presented the first lecture in 1989. At the event, the department also presents endowed scholarships, one of which bears Beal’s name, to the department’s finest students.