The African Nutrition Society Celebrates Nevin Scrimshaw

The African Nutrition Society has learnt with profound sadness the passing of Professor Nevin Scrimshaw, a leading light and force major for nutrition over the last eight decades or more. Nevin’s life and work speaks for itself and as has been captured variously in the media and the nutrition community, this great pioneer has been a teacher, mentor, researcher, and influenced not only many a nutritional scientist and leader today, but global nutrition policy. As a young organisation with aspirations that matched his own vision and ambitions for nutrition training and capacity building in Africa, we were delighted to be asked to host a celebration of Professor Scrimshaw’s 90th birthday at our third Africa Nutritional Epidemiology Conference (ANEC III) in Cairo, Egypt in 2008. In paying tribute to him, we initiated the “Nevin Scrimshaw Award” for excellence in international nutrition of which he was the first recipient. Professor Scrimshaw is the epitome of a great teacher and trainer of the can do variety who through great sacrifices, sought to follow the strength of his convictions and toiled to promote the global nutrition agenda and in particular, nutrition and health in developing countries. It is therefore with the greatest honour that ANS joins the global nutrition fraternity to celebrate the life and work of Professor Nevin S Scrimshaw. As a scientific learned society for nutrition, we are proud to continue to be associated with the Nevin S. Scrimshaw International Nutrition Foundation, and will continue to honour him through the Nevin S. Scrimshaw Award and the Nevin S. Scrimshaw Medal which is presented biennially to outstanding scientists in international nutrition.