It didn’t take long for Rachel Johnson to decide how to use funding that came with the Robert L. Bickford, Jr. Green and Gold Professorship she received in May. She immediately put the money to work to enhance two research projects associated with new nutrition standards that may benefit our nation’s schoolchildren.
New U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations affecting nutrition standards for school foods and beverages are scheduled to take effect in fall 2012, and Rachel Johnson, PhD, MPH, RD – one of the nation’s leading researchers on pediatric nutrition – is conducting research aimed at measuring the efficacy of those regulations.
One study concerns developing practical, valid methods to measure schoolchildren’s fruit and vegetable consumption, while the other project pertains to children’s consumption rates of low-added-sugar- and lower calorie-flavored milk in schools.
The flexible nature of the Bickford Green and Gold Professorship funding enables Johnson to involve UVM students in her research and cover some of the expenses associated with attending professional meetings where she will present her research to the nutrition science and dietetics community.
“We were confident that Rachel Johnson would be an outstanding choice as the inaugural holder of the Bickford Professorship, and she’s already making us proud,” said Dean Tom Vogelmann, who announced her appointment at the College’s May 14, alumni and friends dinner. “She is a key figure in the development of national nutrition policy, especially as it relates to the dietary intake and nutritional health of our nation’s youth, so we are delighted to have the Bickford Professorship help advance her research on these topics.”
Robert L. “Bob” Bickford, Jr., namesake of this prestigious award, was a 1943 graduate of UVM’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and former chair of both the UVM Board of Trustees and CALS Advisory Board. He received his master's degree from Cornell University and enjoyed a long career working for the animal feeds division of Merck and Co., Inc. until his retirement in 1984. Bickford and his wife, Oletha agreed to establish the Bickford Professorship through their estate plans. Following Bob’s death in 2007, Oletha “Lee” Bickford ’41 arranged to inaugurate the professorship in conjunction with the college’s centennial anniversary observance. Lee, ’41, received her master’s degree from Boston University in education and taught in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Jersey schools for 42 years. She is a 2003 UVM Distinguished Service Award recipient for her alumni committee and fundraising leadership and a 1996 honorary degree recipient.
“Bob was a passionate supporter of our College and believed in the power of the faculty to make our world a better place,” says Johnson. “Lee continues to be a gracious friend who is sustaining Bob's legacy of generous support to CALS. I have a lovely photo of Bob and Lee on their 60th wedding anniversary in my office. It reminds me daily of the responsibility they have placed in me to live up to their dreams for this magnificent gift.”