Rosenberg to step down as nutrition dean

Dr. Irwin H. Rosenberg will step down as dean of the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in fall 2003, when a new dean is expected to be in place.

"Dr. Rosenberg's contributions to the nutrition school, the university and the wider world of nutrition and health research and public policy have been enormous," Provost Jamshed Bharucha said. "He has recruited dozens of esteemed faculty to Tufts, enhancing the academic and research environment and the overall reputation of the university. The position Tufts now holds in the nutrition community is unparalleled."

Dr. Irwin H. Rosenberg © Mark Morelli

"When the new academic year begins next September, I will have completed 10 years as dean of this remarkable school," Rosenberg said. "By then, we will be well settled in our new primary home in the Jaharis Family Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Sciences on the Boston campus near the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA), and we will be poised for the strongest-ever decade in the school's history."

Once the transition takes place, Rosenberg said he will pursue his work and research as a University Professor, an honor he received a year ago. University Professorship—awarded to only three other Tufts faculty members—"recognizes a scientific and academic prominence that crosses disciplines and acknowledges the enormous impact [Rosenberg] has had at Tufts and around the world through his scholarship," Bharucha said.

"The search for the school's next academic leader will be pursued with great care and diligence," the provost said. "When a successor is in place, we expect [Rosenberg] will continue to research, lead and teach at Tufts and around the world, where his expertise and scholarship continues to be in high demand."

Rosenberg directed the HNRCA for 15 years and was tapped a decade ago to succeed Stanley N. Gershoff as the second dean of the nutrition school, which was founded in 1981. He relinquished the directorship of the HNRCA in October 2001. "Through his own scientific accomplishments and his inspiration and leadership of scores of colleagues and students, he cemented the preeminence of the [HNRCA] in the field of nutrition and aging," Bharucha said. Rosenberg is the author of more than 300 scientific papers and other publications and five books.

In addition to his leadership of the school, Rosenberg also is the first holder of the Jean Mayer Chair in Nutrition at Tufts and serves as a senior scientist at the HNRCA and as a professor of physiology and medicine at Tufts School of Medicine. He is an acknowledged expert on nutrition and aging, specifically vitamin metabolism.

On the research front, Rosenberg will continue to pursue his investigation of folate metabolism, with a special emphasis on nutritional factors involved in the maintenance of cognitive function. That will include work on a new multi-million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate micronutrient deficiency and its relationship to cognitive function, stroke and Alzheimer's disease.

Throughout his career, Rosenberg has led many efforts to apply nutrition science to public policy through leading national and international organizations. His most recent appointment as chair of an Institute of Medicine panel on the use of Dietary Reference Intakes (federal nutrition standards) in nutritional labeling of foods "is testament to his impeccable credentials and experience," Bharucha said.