Betsy Hiser Memorial Scholarship
Donation protected
My mom, Elizabeth (Betsy) Normand Hiser, was a nationally recognized nutritionist and author. After she passed away in an automobile accident in 2000, the Vermont Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (still known then as the Vermont Dietetic Association) started a memorial scholarship in her name. The Elizabeth Hiser Memorial Nutrition Scholarship, awarded annually each May, is intended to help a registered dietitian who is a resident of Vermont pursue continuing education in nutrition or food science. As we approach twenty years since my mom’s passing, the scholarship fund is in need of some rejuvenation, and that’s where you come in!
Betsy held a Master of Science in Nutrition and was a Registered Dietitian. After graduate school, she worked in clinical research at the Medical Center of Vermont, where I would meet her after school as a young girl. Even then, I understood that my mom had a unique light and an incredible drive to help people. In one distinct memory, she brought me to visit some bedridden patients in an obesity study, and I immediately recognized how much they appreciated her kindness and commitment to helping them heal. My mother also taught cardiac rehabilitation classes to heart attack survivors, and I did homework in the back of at least one of those classes. She was unquestionably committed to helping those patients prevent a second heart attack, and she coached them through important lifestyle changes with an instinctive mix of tough love and compassion.
In 1990 Betsy left the research world to become the first Nutrition Editor of the brand new EatingWell magazine. She was thrilled to combine her love of writing (her undergraduate degree was in English) with her expertise in nutrition and healthy cooking. My favorite memory about my mom's time at EatingWell was when she was conducting research for an article on the reality of American breakfast cereal. She purchased every sugary cereal we would never otherwise have in the house, and I got to eat them all! Betsy stayed at EatingWell until its closure in 1999 (happily, the magazine was re-started in 2002). Her articles also appeared in Vegetarian Times, Better Homes and Gardens, and more. In 1999 her book, The Other Diabetes: Living and Eating Well with Type 2 Diabetes, was published. She received The American Dietetic Association Media Excellence Award, the Institute of Food Technologies Science Journalism Award, and was a multi-time nominee for James Beard Foundation journalism awards.
If you knew Betsy, either personally or professionally, chances are you remember her fondly. If you didn’t know her, I'll share a bit more about why VAND and my family are so committed to continuing her legacy. While Betsy's many professional accomplishments are impressive, there are three things I admire her for most. First, she truly lived her message of health and wellness in a way that was a constant inspiration to those around her – never preachy or judgmental. Next, she had a remarkable gift for translating complex scientific topics into messages that people could easily understand and apply to their life, benefiting their own health and the health of their families. Finally, moderation and balance came naturally to her. One might have assumed, given her profession, that she was a “health nut”. In fact, she was the farthest thing from it! While she only stocked our kitchen with healthy items, my mother never demonized junk food. My brothers and I were always welcome to order anything off the menu when eating out, and some of my favorite childhood memories include our Thursday night “girls’ night”, where we’d get slices of greasy pizza for dinner after her beloved aerobics class, or open a box of Cheez-Its while doing the grocery shopping. Yet at the same time, we ate a salad made with fresh greens nearly every night, she loved to give our family cat sardines and cod liver oil, and you would be hard-pressed to find partially hydrogenated oils on the label of anything in our pantry, long before mainstream America had ever even heard of trans fats.
A few weeks after my mom’s passing, Debbie Salomon of the Burlington Free Press wrote a remembrance piece that I will always treasure. She said, “Not only did this registered dietitian walk the walk, she also hiked the hike, skied the trail, and ate the right stuff not as a youth or beauty potion, but because she loved it… the best tribute might be to decorate the kitchen table with wildflowers, toss some ripe tomatoes with greens fresh from the garden, douse the salad with fruity olive oil, pour a glass of Cabernet, break open a bag of M&Ms and propose a toast: If we really are what we eat, Betsy, you obviously consumed the very best.”
Nutrition science has made incredible steps forward in the eighteen years since my mom's passing. I often wonder what her opinion would be on the evolving conversation about saturated fat, for example. But no matter how many nutrition science discoveries are made, the core of a dietitian's profession comes down to this: helping people make steady, long-term commitments to a healthier lifestyle, which is much easier said than done. Betsy made this look easy, however, because she lived her own message, and because she shared it with heart.
Today I hope you'll consider helping to keep Betsy's legacy alive with a donation to her memorial scholarship. This fund will help current and future generations of Vermont dietitians carry on with her mission of helping people through better eating (occasional Cheez-Its and M&Ms still allowed).
Thank you!
Jessica Normand
Betsy held a Master of Science in Nutrition and was a Registered Dietitian. After graduate school, she worked in clinical research at the Medical Center of Vermont, where I would meet her after school as a young girl. Even then, I understood that my mom had a unique light and an incredible drive to help people. In one distinct memory, she brought me to visit some bedridden patients in an obesity study, and I immediately recognized how much they appreciated her kindness and commitment to helping them heal. My mother also taught cardiac rehabilitation classes to heart attack survivors, and I did homework in the back of at least one of those classes. She was unquestionably committed to helping those patients prevent a second heart attack, and she coached them through important lifestyle changes with an instinctive mix of tough love and compassion.
In 1990 Betsy left the research world to become the first Nutrition Editor of the brand new EatingWell magazine. She was thrilled to combine her love of writing (her undergraduate degree was in English) with her expertise in nutrition and healthy cooking. My favorite memory about my mom's time at EatingWell was when she was conducting research for an article on the reality of American breakfast cereal. She purchased every sugary cereal we would never otherwise have in the house, and I got to eat them all! Betsy stayed at EatingWell until its closure in 1999 (happily, the magazine was re-started in 2002). Her articles also appeared in Vegetarian Times, Better Homes and Gardens, and more. In 1999 her book, The Other Diabetes: Living and Eating Well with Type 2 Diabetes, was published. She received The American Dietetic Association Media Excellence Award, the Institute of Food Technologies Science Journalism Award, and was a multi-time nominee for James Beard Foundation journalism awards.
If you knew Betsy, either personally or professionally, chances are you remember her fondly. If you didn’t know her, I'll share a bit more about why VAND and my family are so committed to continuing her legacy. While Betsy's many professional accomplishments are impressive, there are three things I admire her for most. First, she truly lived her message of health and wellness in a way that was a constant inspiration to those around her – never preachy or judgmental. Next, she had a remarkable gift for translating complex scientific topics into messages that people could easily understand and apply to their life, benefiting their own health and the health of their families. Finally, moderation and balance came naturally to her. One might have assumed, given her profession, that she was a “health nut”. In fact, she was the farthest thing from it! While she only stocked our kitchen with healthy items, my mother never demonized junk food. My brothers and I were always welcome to order anything off the menu when eating out, and some of my favorite childhood memories include our Thursday night “girls’ night”, where we’d get slices of greasy pizza for dinner after her beloved aerobics class, or open a box of Cheez-Its while doing the grocery shopping. Yet at the same time, we ate a salad made with fresh greens nearly every night, she loved to give our family cat sardines and cod liver oil, and you would be hard-pressed to find partially hydrogenated oils on the label of anything in our pantry, long before mainstream America had ever even heard of trans fats.
A few weeks after my mom’s passing, Debbie Salomon of the Burlington Free Press wrote a remembrance piece that I will always treasure. She said, “Not only did this registered dietitian walk the walk, she also hiked the hike, skied the trail, and ate the right stuff not as a youth or beauty potion, but because she loved it… the best tribute might be to decorate the kitchen table with wildflowers, toss some ripe tomatoes with greens fresh from the garden, douse the salad with fruity olive oil, pour a glass of Cabernet, break open a bag of M&Ms and propose a toast: If we really are what we eat, Betsy, you obviously consumed the very best.”
Nutrition science has made incredible steps forward in the eighteen years since my mom's passing. I often wonder what her opinion would be on the evolving conversation about saturated fat, for example. But no matter how many nutrition science discoveries are made, the core of a dietitian's profession comes down to this: helping people make steady, long-term commitments to a healthier lifestyle, which is much easier said than done. Betsy made this look easy, however, because she lived her own message, and because she shared it with heart.
Today I hope you'll consider helping to keep Betsy's legacy alive with a donation to her memorial scholarship. This fund will help current and future generations of Vermont dietitians carry on with her mission of helping people through better eating (occasional Cheez-Its and M&Ms still allowed).
Thank you!
Jessica Normand
Organizer and beneficiary
Jessica Normand
Organizer
Burlington, VT
Hima Kanuparthi
Beneficiary
