Raynor Honored with 2025 Medallion Award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Raynor Honored with 2025 Medallion Award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest professional organization of nutrition and dietetics practitioners, with members representing over 112,000 credentialed practitioners, has awarded Hollie Raynor the 2025 Medallion Award. This award recognizes dedication to the high standards of the nutrition and dietetics profession through active participation, leadership and devotion to serving others in nutrition and dietetics, as well as allied health fields.
“Hollie Raynor is one of the more extraordinary professionals with whom I have worked,” said Ellen McIntyre, dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (CEHHS) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “She not only conducts high-impact research on obesity prevention, her work in leadership around health has impacted the university and community. She has led the university in developing a new vision for health that includes departments from across the campus, including Nutrition, Public Health, Food Science, Biology, Nursing, Social Work, and even Engineering. She led the work to create a cluster hire of top talent in Nutrition that spans departments and colleges across campus. She has led the development of a health summit for middle school youth as well as a state-wide conference on health. She is a leader in research quality on campus and is viewed with deep respect by all who work with her. Just as importantly, she was instrumental in developing partnerships with health care agencies in efforts to make a direct, positive impact on health in the East Tennessee community.”
Currently, Raynor serves as the executive associate dean for research and operations at CEHHS where she oversees the college’s Office of Research & External Funding. As an undergraduate, Raynor’s passion for research was ignited when a faculty member introduced her into how research is conducted. Additionally, Raynor learned about the challenges of changing eating behavior, which led to her interest in the field of psychology. Fast forward to today, and Raynor is one of the few people in the world trained in nutrition and psychology. Combining these two fields has been the focus of her career.
Raynor’s expertise and ability to bridge the fields of research and practice is in high demand. She has served as a member of three committees developing evidence-based practice guidelines: the National Committee for Clinical Guidelines for Obesity for the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Prediabetes and Adult Obesity Treatment Evidence Analysis Library Committees. Finally, she has served as a member of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.
Raynor has also shared her training in research to support professional development for practitioners in understanding how research informs evidence-based practice and how dietitians can collect outcomes, showing the value of the dietitian and the work that dietitians do in enhancing health. To support this work, she published in practitioner newsletters, provided webinars, and mentored practitioners through the process of collecting outcomes.
As a scholar, Raynor has 184 peer-reviewed scientific publications in her scholarship area. She has also received over 50 grants as the lead or as part of a scientific team, and in the last 10 years this work has received over $26 million in direct support, predominantly from the National Institutes of Health.
“Dr. Raynor has been a leader in dietetics and nutrition, producing groundbreaking research that has shaped both academic understanding and practical applications,” said Alison Steiber, chief mission, impact, and strategy officer for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics . “Her work on innovative interventions for obesity prevention, dietary behavior change, and family-focused health strategies has not only advanced the field but also directly improved the lives of countless individuals and families. Dr. Raynor’s ability to bridge rigorous scientific inquiry with real-world impact is a hallmark of her career.”
Raynor’s research is truly making positive change, helping improving the health of children and adults. She also makes an impact on her colleagues, encouraging them to make a difference.
Shannon Robson, an associate professor at the University of Delaware said, “As my doctoral mentor, Hollie instilled high standards, inspired me to be a better researcher and practitioner, and continuously modeled how to give back to the profession. She showed me it is not just what you do, but how you do it. Hollie worked (and still works) harder than anyone I know with much of her time devoted to service. I still remember when I was a student, Hollie invited me to participate in the Weight Management Dietetic Practice Group Research Committee and valued my contributions. She constantly showed me how to contribute to our profession through her own actions. These experiences have taught me to do the same with my own students today, and to me that is the greatest contribution you can make to a profession is to invest in its future just as Hollie does every day.”
You can learn more about Raynor’s research in this video.
