Kentucky Registered Dietitian Named 2003-04 President of American Dietetic Association

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CHICAGO -- Marianne Smith Edge, a registered dietitian and the owner of an Owensboro, Ky.-based nutrition and foodservice management company, will begin her term June 1 as president of the American Dietetic Association, the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.

An ADA member who has held numerous leadership positions in the Association including speaker of the House of Delegates, Edge will serve as ADA's 78th president until May 31, 2004. She has been ADA's president-elect since June 2002.

Edge is president and chief executive officer of MSE & Associates, which provides consulting services in the food and health-care industries. She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of nutrition and dietetics and has been a member of ADA since 1980.

"The American Dietetic Association is committed to building upon our successes," Edge said. "I encourage my fellow members to be involved in the Association and especially to support ADA's new strategic goals and initiatives and further establish ADA as the public's most valued source of food and nutrition information and services.

"ADA's incoming Board of Directors and I will work hard to strengthen programs and services for ADA members, raise the profile of our Association and enhance the value of ADA to its members and the public," Edge said.

"As career opportunities for dietetics professionals evolve and change, ADA will be there to build awareness of our members' options in the commercial and retail food industries and to increase their marketplace skills and education levels," Edge said.

"In the midst of a national obesity epidemic, ADA will seize all opportunities to be an integral part of the solution to this problem, and to help shape the debate on the nation's most critical health issues," added Edge.

Edge's many leadership positions with the American Dietetic Association, include member of the Board of Directors in 1997-99; chair of ADA's member initiative committee; member of ADA's Position and Quality Assurance committees and member of ADA's House of Delegates.

Edge is active in the Kentucky Dietetic Association, where serves on the Kentucky Licensing and Certification Boards. She also serves on the board of her local community college foundation and has served on the boards of county hospital and hospice, symphony orchestra and Chamber of Commerce.

Edge is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a member of the university's Board of trustees. She was elected to the university's College of Environmental Sciences Hall of Fame in 2001. Edge received her master's degree in health nutrition from Western Kentucky University.

Edge has served as national president of the University of Kentucky National Alumni Association, receiving the UK Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1994. She is a UK Fellow and a member of the Erikson Society and the UK Capital Campaign Board of Volunteers.

With nearly 70,000 members, the Chicago-based American Dietetic Association serves the public by promoting optimal health and well-being for all people. Visit ADA at www.eatright.org.

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