Susan T. Borra, Authority on Food and Nutrition Communications, Education and Policy, Receives Academy's Highest Honor

October 13, 2021

CHICAGO – Susan T. Borra, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a national authority on nutrition and food communications, education and policy has been named the 2021 recipient of the Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.

The Copher Award is named for an early 20th-century pioneer in dietetics who was recognized by the British and French governments for her service in World War I. Following the war, Marjorie Hulsizer Copher served as chief dietitian at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. After her death, a gift from Copher's husband to the Academy (then known as the American Dietetic Association) established the award in her honor.

Borra, of Burke, Va., is a nationally recognized leader with more than 40 years of experience in strategically directing nutrition and food safety issues, policies, strategies, communication programs and managing resources for national organizations representing the food retailing and food processing industries.

Borra retired in 2019 as the chief health and wellness officer of FMI: The Food Industry Organization (formerly the Food Marketing Institute), where she worked for more than a decade and as executive director of the FMI Foundation. Previously, she was FMI's senior vice president for communications and strategic planning.

Prior to FMI, Borra was executive vice president and managing director of nutrition, food and wellness at the Edelman public relations agency; executive vice president of the International Food Information Council and Foundation; and president of the IFIC Foundation. Earlier, she was IFIC's senior vice president and director of nutrition. Borra worked as director of consumer affairs at FMI and as director of health professional services for the Dairy Council of the Upper Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland.

Borra has served the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in many senior positions at the local, state and national levels. She was the Academy's President in 2001-2002; director and chair of the Academy's Foundation and a member of the Foundation's Nominating Committee; chair of the Legislative and Public Policy Committee and a member of the Academy's Board of Directors. Borra represented Maryland in the Academy's House of Delegates and was a founding member of the Academy's Food and Culinary dietetic practice group.

Borra has also held senior-level volunteer positions with the American Society of Nutrition, Institute of Food Technologists, Society for Nutrition Education, Retail Dietitians Business Alliance and the American Heart Association. She is a member of the board of directors of the Partnership for Food Safety Education. She served on the National Academy of Sciences Subcommittee on Interpretation and Uses of Dietary Reference Intakes.

In the words of a colleague: "Opportunity is Sue Borra's favorite word. Over the many years I have known and worked with Sue, she has always rallied her team with words of encouragement to face challenges by seeking opportunities to create something great. Whether she is investigating the health and well-being trends of supermarket shoppers, nutrition labeling, childhood obesity, food as medicine or a host of other issues related to nutrition, Sue includes many different voices and points of view to ensure the best thinking goes into a project. She sets an example by her strong work ethic, which includes having fun. She reminds us that it is important to have laughed out loud before 10 a.m. every day."

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Representing more than 100,000 credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation's health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the Academy at www.eatright.org.