Doris Howes Calloway

Abstract

Throughout her career, Doris Howes Calloway sought to understand what influences human protein and energy requirements and metabolism in controlled and field settings. Much of her research became the basis for national and international dietary recommendations, many of which are in use today. She served on many committees of the US Food and Nutrition Board/National Research Council/Institute of Medicine and the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization of the United Nations. Concerned about populations where marginal malnutrition is often overlooked, Dr Calloway led a major United States Agency for International Development–funded multiuniversity research project in low-income countries to better understand the effects of moderate malnutrition on growth and health. She led this extensive multinational study while serving as provost, the first woman in the senior administration at the University of California, Berkeley campus. Toward the end of her professional career, she was appointed chair of the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee. Her interest in food and nutrition policy helped reorient dietary guidance both in the United States and internationally. Dr Calloway's scientific and humanitarian accomplishments were extended further through the subsequent research and leadership activities of her colleagues, graduate students, and others whom she mentored.