Betts named to hold first Jim and Lynne Williams Professorship

Friday, July 23, 2010

Dr. Nancy Betts, professor and head of Department of Nutritional Sciences in the Oklahoma State University College of Human Environmental Sciences, has been named the first person to hold the Jim and Lynne Williams Professorship in Nutritional Sciences.

Jim and Lynne Williams of Frisco, Texas, wanted to find a way to improve human health through research on heart disease and diabetes. Lynne, a pharmacist, knows which medicines can treat problems, but she felt preventing these deadly diseases was a more effective and a more important way to improve health. The Williams would like to see dietary education and practice replace pharmaceuticals in doctors’ offices.

Betts received her doctorate and master’s degrees in human nutrition from Ohio State University, and her research focuses on factors that influence food choice behavior and nutrition and sports performance.

“We know that healthy eating and physical activity can prevent obesity which is a leading factor in heart disease and diabetes,” said Jim Williams. “When we see the research that is going on in nutritional sciences at OSU and the way students are an integral part of that research, we are excited to think of the potential for the future our gift can make.”

Betts has served as a member of the National Children’s Study Assembly and the Congressional Task Force for Research, Education and Economics. She also has provided leadership to the North Central Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, the American Dietetic Association, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and the Board of Editors for the Journal of Nutrition Education.