Posted on October 18, 2004 at 8:35 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A prestigious national nutrition award has been re-named to honor its founder, the late Dr. Roland L. Weinsier, a long-time member of the UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) faculty. The American Society for Clinical Nutrition (ASCN) is re-naming the Dannon Institute Award for Excellence in Medical/Dental Nutrition Education as the Roland L. Weinsier Award for Excellence in Medical/Dental Nutrition Education, supported by the Dannon Institute.

The award is presented in recognition of an outstanding career in medical/dental nutrition education. Weinsier conceived and established the award in 1991 when he chaired the ASCN committee on professional nutrition education. He subsequently won the award in 1995.

“It was through the vision and leadership of Dr. Weinsier that this award was first established as the highest national honor given for nutrition education of medical and dental professionals,” said Dr. Douglas C. Heimburger, professor of nutrition sciences at UAB and a colleague of Dr. Weinsier. “I think no single person in the United States, and perhaps in the world, exemplifies so well the high standards of sustained quality, excellence and commitment to improving nutrition education in academic health centers as Roland did.”

According to the ASCN, a nominee for the award should be widely recognized and have a national or international reputation. Nomination depends on acknowledged excellence in nutrition teaching or nutrition education research that extends beyond the local institution and that includes innovations in medical/dental nutrition education.

Weinsier joined the UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences in 1975 and chaired the department from 1988-1999. From 1999 until his death in 2002 he was director of the UAB Clinical Nutrition Research Center, which he had founded with an NIH grant.