Judith S. Stern (April 25, 1943 – May 8, 2019) was an American nutritionist and longtime professor at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. She was known for her research on obesity. Stern was a member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

, and co-founded the American Obesity Association. In 2001, she was awarded the Charles A. Black Award by the

Council for Agricultural Science and Technology A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

(CAST).

Early life and education

Judith Schneider Stern was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

on April 25, 1943, and raised in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the tim ...

. Stern received her bachelor's degree in Food and Nutrition from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, and became certified as a

registered dietitian A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

. She then moved to Harvard University School of Public Health, completing her master's degree in 1966 and her doctoral degree in 1970, under the supervision of

Jean Mayer Jean Mayer (19 April 1920 – 1 January 1993) was a French-American scientist best known for his research on the physiological bases of hunger and the metabolism of essential nutrients, and for his role in shaping policy on world hunger at bo ...

. Following her doctoral degree, Stern began as a

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

in Jules Hirsch's laboratory at the Rockefeller Institute.

Academic career

In 1974, Stern joined the faculty of the University of California, Davis as an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

in the Department of Nutrition. There her early research centered on differences in the

adipose tissue Adipose tissue (also known as body fat or simply fat) is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. It also contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, Blood vessel, vascular endothel ...

of obese individuals – using Zucker rats as a research model. Eventually her research program grew to include human studies, focused on various obesity treatment regimens. In 1995, Stern was elected to the

. At various points she was elected president of the NAASO (1992–1993, now

The Obesity Society The Obesity Society is a scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity and its treatment. It was founded in 1982 and has approximately 2,500 members. The official scientific journal of the society is ''Obesity'', which is available in print ...

) and the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. Stern co-founded the American Obesity Association, an advocacy group that lobbied in favor of obesity research and treatment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Judith 1943 births 2019 deaths University of California, Davis faculty American women nutritionists American nutritionists Rockefeller University faculty Cornell University College of Human Ecology alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine