Gretchen George, Ph.D., RD
Dr. Gretchen George is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at SF State. She has been in the tenure role since 2013. She received her B.S. in Nutrition Science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and completed her M.A. and dietetic internship at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, focused on Public Health Nutrition. She has a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biology with an emphasis in Community and International Nutrition at UC Davis. In addition to teaching at SF State, Gretchen is also currently a Healthy Living Educator for the Stanford BeWell Program.
Gretchen is passionate about prevention and empowerment. She teaches Seminar in Human Nutrition and Metabolism for the interns, as well as numerous undergraduate courses including advanced nutrition, nutrition education, and community nutrition and assessment. In the classroom she shares findings from food literacy research in food-insecure students. Additionally, she includes students in community-based research and has begun exploring weight stigma in students in health-related majors, with the overall goal of increasing body positivity in health professionals, adolescents, and adults.
Prior to coming to SF State, Gretchen conducted research on the impact of adolescent summer camp programs focused on lifestyle and healthy eating and their impact on cardiovascular biochemical markers in overweight and obese at-risk youth. She also was a senior research dietitian at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Stanford Research Prevention Center where she worked on studies related to cardiovascular health, sleep, and the impact of macronutrient intake on weight along with Dr. Christopher Gardner and other primary investigators. Gretchen also has experience as a consultant dietitian, doing nutritional assessments in long-term care facilities.
Additionally, Gretchen has held several leadership and volunteer positions in the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) including serving as Chair from 2018-2019. She currently serves on the Awards Committee for the Nutrition Education and Behavioral Science research interest section of ASN.
In her spare time, Gretchen enjoys running, hiking, and traveling with her family.