Colleagues,
I’m pleased to announce that Beth Racine, DrPH, has been appointed director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center at El Paso and professor in the Department of Nutrition at Texas A&M University effective Jan. 1. She will also serve as the Extension Associate Department Head for Nutrition.
Dr. Racine is currently Professor of Public Health Services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focus has been the understanding of incentives and barriers to healthy eating and physical activity among different populations in the Charlotte region, the U.S. and other countries. Specifically, her research has focused on obesity among low-income ethnic groups and accompanying socioeconomic factors.
As a registered dietician, Dr. Racine has received numerous honors for her work, including the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Health and Human Services Dean’s Faculty Research Innovation Award.
Dr. Racine has served as a study manager with Westat, which provides research services to federal and state government agencies and foundations, and as a social science analyst with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Economic Research Service.
Dr. Racine will be a valuable addition to the El Paso Center, helping bridge both research and Extension in areas of critical need to the region, including water and human nutrition.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston University, a master’s degree in nutrition from California State University in addition to masters and doctoral degrees in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Racine to this key leadership position and in thanking Dr. Jaroy Moore for serving as interim director for the last year.
Thank you,
Patrick J. Stover, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor, Texas A&M AgriLife
Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
