Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University alumna Mary B. Gregoire, a registered dietitian and charter fellow of the American Dietetic Association, will present the 39th annual Grace M. Shugart Lecture at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union.

Her topic will be "Sustainability: Leading Change and Opportunity." The lecture is free and open to the public.

Gregoire is director of food and nutrition services at Rush University Medical Center. She also is professor and chair of clinical nutrition at Rush University, where she is responsible for the master's degree program and dietetic internship. She has served as chair of the Rush Green Team and has championed many sustainability initiatives at the university.

Gregoire earned a doctorate in food service and hospitality management from Kansas State University and received the College of Human Ecology Distinguished Research Award in 2007.

She is the author of "Foodservice Organizations: A Managerial and Systems Approach," a textbook that is widely used in dietetics and hospitality management programs.

At Rush Medical Center, she directs a $19 million food and nutrition services operation with 260 employees, including 50 professional staff. The staff prepares and serves more than 2 million meals a year to patients, staff and visitors and manages an on-campus conference center and catering operation. Dietitians provide more than 50,000 nutrition inpatient and outpatient consults annually. She also oversees contracts for kiosks and vending operations on campus.

"We are very excited to have Dr. Gregoire as this year's speaker. She is a leader in the field of sustainability and can talk about the realities of implementing sustainability programs in food service operations," said Jeannie Sneed, professor and head of the department of hospitality management and dietetics, which sponsors the lecture.

The annual lecture brings dietitians and food service and hospitality experts to Kansas State University for the enrichment of student curricula and to provide continuing education for practitioners in the field.

Established in 1975, the lecture series honors the Grace M. Shugart, former department head in the College of Human Ecology and co-author of "Food for Fifty and Food Service in Institutions." Shugart helped build the profession of dietetics and institutional management throughout the United States, serving as president of the American Dietetic Association. She also was a Medallion Award winner and received the Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award, the American Dietetic Association's highest honor.