Colleagues,
It is with sadness that I inform you of the passing of Dr. Joanne R. Lupton on Wednesday, June 18, 2020.
Dr. Lupton was a Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor, University Faculty Fellow and William W. Allen Endowed Chair in Nutrition. She was a nationally recognized leader in the field of nutrition, and an inspiring educator, encouraging many young minds to dedicate their careers to the advancement of nutrition. Her research focused on investigating effects of diet on the gastrointestinal tract with a focus on colon physiology and colon cancer. Dr. Lupton’s contributions are numerous and deeply influential.
Until 2008, Dr. Lupton led the National Space Biomedical Research Institute’s Nutrition, Physical Fitness and Rehabilitation Team. A past president of the American Society for Nutrition, she served as an associate editor of the Journal of Nutrition from 1995 to 2005. She chaired the Panel on Dietary Reference Intakes for Macronutrients, generating the proposed definition of fiber in 2001. Dr. Lupton was a visiting scholar at the Food and Drug Administration during 2003, where she helped develop an evidence-based system to evaluate health claims. She also served five years on the Nutrition Study Section for the National Institutes of Health. In 2009, Dr. Lupton was named a member of the National Academy of Medicine one of the highest honors in fields of health and medicine.
As a professor, Dr. Lupton mentored more than 50 graduate students at Texas A&M. She received the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Association of Former Students Distinguished Teaching Award, the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research, and the Distinguished Achievement Award for Research. She has also been honored with the USDA National Award for Teaching, Southern Region.
She was a champion for the advancement of health and could often be found walking energetically through the basement and hallways of the Kleberg building. She will be dearly missed.
Public memorial opportunities are still tentative, and we will share information as it becomes available.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made for the development of a scholarship in Dr. Lupton’s name by sending a check made payable to Texas A&M University to the Department of Nutrition at MS 2253 Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2253.
Respectfully,
Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor, Texas A&M AgriLife
Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
