Mary deGarmo Bryan


Mary deGarmo Bryan was an American dietitian and professor at Columbia University from 1934 to 1951.

Early life

Mary Cora deGarmo was born in Warrensburg, Missouri, the daughter of Frank de Garmo and Mary O'Donnell de Garmo. Her mother was a teacher and a prominent clubwoman in St. Louis.
She graduated from Newcomb College in 1912, and from Washington University in 1913. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Columbia University in 1931, with a dissertation titled "Amylase activity of blood serum in relation to age and nutritional history".

Career

During World War I, deGarmo worked as an Army dietitian in France. She was elected president of the American Dietetic Association in 1920. She edited The Journal of Home Economics from 1921 to 1924, helped to revise the cookbook of the United States Navy, and wrote a textbook, The School Cafeteria. Other publications by Bryan included Some aspects of management of college residence halls for women, Furnishings and equipment for residence halls, Establishing and Operating a Restaurant,
Bryan helped to develop and promote the federally-funded lunch program in American public schools. "You can't teach hungry children," she explained about the program in 1966. "If you are going to make effective use of the hundreds of millions of dollars we spend on schools, you should be sure the children are in good physical shape for learning."
She taught at Agnes Scott College from 1913 to 1915, at the University of Illinois from 1915 to 1916, and at Teachers College, Columbia University from 1934 to 1951, where she chaired the department of institutional management.

Personal life

Mary deGarmo married Charles W. Bryan Jr.,a civil engineer and manufacturing executive. She was a widow when she died in 1986, aged 94 years, in Chicago. Her papers are archived in the Eskind Biomedical Library at Vanderbilt University.