Longtime Nutrition Professor Katherine Musgrave Passes Away

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

June 23, 2015 News

Katherine Musgrave, a longtime University of Maine professor and nutritionist, passed away June 20, 2015 at the age of 95.

Musgrave, an Orono resident, started teaching at UMaine as an assistant professor in 1969. She “retired” in the 1980s, but continued to work full time, according to a Bangor Daily News article on Musgrave. She then taught classes on campus and online, worked as a registered dietitian, a nutrition consultant to area physicians and corporate wellness programs and broadcast a weekly radio segment about healthy living on Bangor radio station WZON, the article states.

In 2011, Musgrave was inducted into the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame, alongside U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

President Susan J. Hunter had this to say about Musgrave:

“Katherine Musgrave was one of the stalwarts of the University of Maine faculty — the consummate teacher, both in the classroom and in distance education, and the untiring human nutrition education researcher and advocate. She came to UMaine the year after getting her degree from Oklahoma State in 1968, teaching countless students who went on to nutrition-related careers, helping train school food service personnel and consulting with local physicians on how to advise patients on healthful eating habits. Katherine ‘retired’ as a full professor in 1985, but continued to teach a popular introductory course on food and nutrition, both on campus, by ITV and online.

“Her passion for healthy living and good nutrition was nationally recognized, was award-winning and made a difference in Maine. Her caring for the health and well-being of future generations was evident in so many ways, including the scholarship fund she established in the University of Maine Foundation in 2009 to provide financial assistance to graduate dietetic interns.

“Katherine epitomized the teaching, research and community outreach mission of a public research university. We will miss her integrity, vision, wit and all-out love of life.”

WABI (Channel 5) also carried a report on Musgrave. Her obituary is online.