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DR. BRIAN WANSINK NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE USDA CENTER FOR NUTRITION POLICY AND PROMOTION
Washington, Nov. 19, 2007 -- Agriculture Under Secretary Nancy Johner for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services today announced the appointment of Dr. Brian Wansink as the Executive Director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). Dr. Wansink currently serves as the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab in the Department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
"Dr. Wansink is nationally recognized in his field of nutrition research which focuses on how to encourage consumers to eat more nutritiously and better control how much they eat," said Johner. "Dr. Wansink's work has been featured in national print and broadcast media. We feel quite fortunate in having Dr. Wansink join our team here at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and look forward to working with him."
At CNPP Dr. Wansink will be responsible for overseeing the planning, development and review of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the food pyramid known as MyPyramid.gov and programs including the Healthy Eating Index, the USDA Food Plans, the Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, and the cost of raising a child.
"I appreciate the opportunity to serve the President and the Secretary in this capacity," Wansink said. "The Center is involved in many crucial projects that have an immense potential to help the American public particularly in combating overweight and obesity. I look forward to leading these endeavors to the best of my abilities."
Dr. Wansink brings with him over 25 years of experience in nutritional science, food psychology, consumer behavior, food marketing, and grocery shopping behavior. His award-winning academic research on food has been published in the top marketing, medical, and nutrition journals nationally and internationally. His latest commercial publication, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, was released in 2006 and in paperback 2007.
Dr. Wansink has had academic appointments at Dartmouth College, Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, INSEAD at Fountainbleau France, US Army Research Labs, and Cornell University. He received a Ph.D. at Stanford University, 1990; M.S. at Drake University, 1984; and B.A. at Wayne State University, 1982.
For more information on CNPP go to: www.cnpp.usda.gov and www.mypyramid.gov
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