In Memoriam: Helen Andrews Guthrie, 1925-2018

Helen Guthrie, a professor emerita of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, died late last month at a senior living facility in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She was 92 years old.

A native of Sarnia, Ontario in Canada, Professor Guthrie was a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where she majored in home economics. She went on to earn a master’s degree in nutrition at Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Hawaii.

Dr. Guthrie joined the faculty at Penn State in 1952 and served on the faculty for 40 years. For 14 years, she was chair of the department of nutrition in the College of Health and Human Development. Dr. Guthrie was president of Society of Nutrition Education and the American Institute of Nutrition. She was the author of the textbook Introductory Nutrition, which had seven editions.

Upon her retirement in 1992, Pennsylvania State University created the Helen A. Guthrie Chair of Nutritional Sciences. Barbara Rolls, the current holder of the endowed chair said that Professor Guthrie “was a pioneer for women in science and academia. She elevated nutrition at Penn State through her leadership to the department and profession.”