Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Fall/Winter 2017-18 | Page 33

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committees to evaluate and select new dining ser-
vices, Suzanne knew just how to lead the team.
She said, “It felt providential to me—that after
leaving Bryn Athyn with my associate degree, I
would gain the experience needed to come back
and serve in this way.”
With their criteria articulated, Suzanne’s
committee asked for proposals from various din-
ing services and then interviewed the top candi-
dates. While Sodexo—the College’s food service
provider at the time—did not submit a propos-
al, the College remains deeply grateful for their
many years of reliable, committed food service.
Ultimately, the College selected SAGE Dining.
Suzanne said, “They’re an incredible com-
pany. Eighty percent of what they make is from
scratch. They do small batch cooking. They get
locally sourced ingredients, even from the gar-
dens here on our campus. They care about not
only the freshness and health of what they’re serving, but
also how they interact with our students, even offering to
teach them culinary skills. They have their own group of
registered dietitians who will interface with me.”
She added, “The owners, Tina and Paco Rodriguez,
are amazing people who embrace the idea of including
the students who’ve worked at the College previously, and
they’re known for their work with special-needs students.
They’re just so on point and amazing to work with—in-
cluding the food service director and executive chef, John
Starrett and the district manager, Maurene Burns. You
couldn’t ask for more.”
The First Taste
After being hired by Bryn Athyn College in the spring of
2017, SAGE was put to the test as student-athletes and
coaches from various schools poured onto the Bryn Athyn
College campus for summer lacrosse and soccer camps.
The week that the first camps started, local gardener
Danielle Odhner and farmer Andy Alps (from Bryn Athyn
Bounty) came to SAGE with a “challenge”—a tray full of
fresh veggies. The chef proceeded to incorporate all the
vegetables into the meal that day for the sports camps.
As Suzanne explained, “SAGE hit it out of the park,
making camp food taste delicious. We had coaches and
kids saying, ‘This food is fantastic.’” The College’s mar-
keting communications manager, Angella Irwin (BA ’08),
said, “One coach told me that he always expects to have at
least one unappetizing meal when he eats camp food, but
he and his athletes enjoyed every meal here.’”
SUZANNE NELSON
Suzanne Nelson, Sc.D., R.D., is the dean of
students and sports nutritionist at Bryn Athyn
College.
Throughout her career, Suzanne has worked with
a variety of athletic teams and has counseled
adolescent, collegiate, and Olympic athletes. She
is a nationally known speaker in sports nutrition.
She served as a consultant to the San Francisco
Giants and was a team nutritionist for the San
Francisco 49ers and University of California.
She served as the director of sports nutrition for
the department of intercollegiate athletics at
the University of Washington and as an adjunct
instructor in nutrition in the department of
epidemiology. Suzanne was also a consulting
nutritionist to USA Wrestling and a member of the
nutrition advisory committee for USA Swimming.
Her work with athletes has been published in
peer-reviewed journals, and she is the author/
editor of several books, including Ultimate Sports
Nutrition, Nutrition for Sport and Exercise, Nutrition
for Young Athletes, and Play Hard Eat Right: A
Parents’ Guide to Sports Nutrition for Children.
Suzanne earned her Bachel or of Science in
psychology at Ursinus College, her Master of
Science in clinical nutrition at Drexel University,
and her doctorate in nutritional science at
Boston University. Suzanne, a registered
dietitian of the American Dietetic Association,
has served as chair of the Graduate Nutrition
Education Department at Immaculata College
and as clinical director of the Weight and
Eating Disorders Center at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she
completed a fellowship in adolescent medicine.
She was also director of the outpatient
nutrition clinic at the Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia and director of clinical trials at
New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
B RY N AT H Y N A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E
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