Dear Colleagues:
We write to share very sad news of the passing of Joan Dye Gussow (Ed.D. ’75, M.Ed. ’74), Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emerita of Nutrition and Education, on March 7, 2025 at the age of 96. Some of you may have read her lovely obituary published by the New York Times over the weekend.
A trailblazing nutritionist and educator who was often referred to as the matriarch of the “eat locally, think globally” food movement, Professor Gussow was a treasured member of the Teachers College community for more than a half century — earning her Master’s degree in Nutrition Education from the College in 1974, followed by an Ed.D. in 1975, and then becoming an assistant professor in the program in the same year. She served as Chair of the Nutrition and Education Program from 1975-1985, and as Mary Swartz Rose Professor from 1988 until her formal retirement as a full-time faculty member in 1994. Professor Gussow continued teaching her legendary Nutritional Ecology course with Toni Liquori (Ed.D. ’95), formerly Adjunct Associate Professor, until 2011, and then alongside Pam Koch, Mary Swartz Rose Associate Professor of Nutrition and Education, until 2021.
Joan Dye Gussow (1928-2025). In her book, Growing, Older, she wrote that when she died, she hoped the photo posted of her was the one in a restaurant in Italy, “high on food, wine, and Rome, and thoughts of romance.”
Throughout her career, Professor Gussow played a significant role in helping the world understand the connection between nutrition and food. She was at the forefront of advocating for the long-term sustainability of the global food system, and emphasized connecting consumers and schools with local farms to support agriculture and engage in critical dialogues about food system sustainability. During the 2009 centennial celebration of TC’s Nutrition Education Program, the oldest university-based nutrition education program in the nation, Professor Gussow asserted: “It is time for nutrition educators to start taking our own stand, insisting that whole foods, not collections of nutrients, must become the fundamental unit for eaters and educators as well as researchers.”
From 1980 to 1983, Professor Gussow served on the Diet, Nutrition and Cancer Panel of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and in 1984, she was simultaneously appointed to the Board of the National Gardening Association and to the Food and Nutrition Board of the NAS. She subsequently served two terms on the Food and Nutrition Board and was a member of the subcommittee that completed the revision of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) in 1989. Professor Gussow also served for multiple years on the Food Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Organic Standards Board, where she worked to help shape the regulations that determine the quality of foods USDA certified as organic. She served on the boards of numerous organizations, and received the prestigious Helen Denning Ullrich Award of Excellence in Nutrition Education from the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) in 2017, and SNEB’s President’s Award in 2020.
Professor Gussow authored, coauthored and edited numerous articles and books, including: The Feeding Web: Issues in Nutritional Ecology, which explored the environmental risks of globalizing the food system and influenced writers such as Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan; Chicken Little, Tomato Sauce and Agriculture: Who Will Produce Tomorrow’s Food (1991); This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader (2001); and Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables (2010). A long time organic mini-farmer, Professor Gussow grew all of her own produce in her garden on the west bank of the Hudson River in Piermont, NY.
Professor Gussow will be remembered as a beloved and legendary TC alumna, educator, mentor, visionary, and leading voice in the field of nutrition and eating locally and thinking globally. Her impact lives on in the generations who were inspired by her for more than half a century, and through the College’s Nutrition Program and the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education and Policy. On behalf of the entire Teachers College community, we convey our heartfelt condolences to Professor Gussow’s family members, friends, former students and colleagues.
Details for a “Celebration of Life” in both her hometown of Piermont, NY, and at TC in late spring are forthcoming. We invite you to send reminiscences on what Joan meant to you, as well as any photos.
Sincerely,
KerryAnn O’Meara
Provost and Dean of the College
Professor of Higher Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
she/her/hers
Laudan B. Jahromi
Chair and Professor of Psychology & Education
Department of Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University
she/her/hers