Carolyn Dunn
State ESP Mid Career Award

Professional Achievements:
Dr. Carolyn Dunn is an energetic, innovative leader in the field of Nutrition Education and Family and Consumer Sciences. She has made significant contributions to the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), North Carolina Cooperative Extension (NCCE), North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the citizens of North Carolina. She is recognized and respected among nutrition colleagues in North Carolina and throughout the nation for her contributions to her field of study.
Throughout her extension career, Dr. Dunn has developed creative, educational programs addressing women's health and child nutrition issues. She has been the catalyst in bringing interdisciplinary teams together, combining the talents and resources of other public agencies and private industry to develop programs and curriculum that have made significant impact to North Carolina women and children. Dr. Dunn has great skill in merging nontraditional delivery strategies, as well as mass media to deliver nutrition messages to the public. Dr. Dunn has been successful in securing funding for programs from sources such as USDA, US Women's Open, NC Department of Instruction, NC Institute of Nutrition, and NC Agriculture Foundation.
Currently, Dr. Dunn provides leadership for three outstanding health and nutrition programs. Each program is unique in its approach to addressing health and wellness issues, and each successful in teaching its respective audiences the principles of healthy eating and living. These innovative and award winning programs are: Women Living Healthy Living Well, a program designed for adult women that uses an interactive CD focused on healthy eating, physical activity and women's health issues; Sybershop, a program designed for children aged 13-19 that uses an interactive CD focusing on physical activity and healthy eating; and Color Me Healthy, a program designed for limited resource children ages 4-5 that uses music, color, creative movement, and interactive learning activities to teach physical activity and healthy eating.
In addition to Dr. Dunn's accomplishments as an Extension specialist in Nutrition, she has served NCSU and NCCE in a number of noteworthy ways.
Presently, Dr. Dunn provides leadership to Family and Consumer Sciences program as Associate State Program Leader. In this capacity she promotes the work of FCS throughout the state, and serves as a mentor to field faculty and other specialists in the FCS department. Dr. Dunn serves the state as a member of the NC initiative for Healthy Weight In Children and Youth and Strive for Five. She has been a member of the NCSU Faculty Senate, Athletics Council, and the Council on the Status of Women.

Significance:
Dr. Dunn has made significant contributions to the field of nutrition education. She has a strong interest in alternative delivery strategies for nutrition education messages. As a result, she has developed innovative educational programs that incorporate the use of video, interactive multimedia, web, music, print and more to address women's health and child nutrition. She is a nationally recognized expert and speaker on the issue of child nutrition, and is often sought as a partner by state agencies and the private sector in educational program development. The Governor appointed Dr. Dunn to the NC Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Health. She served as co-chair for this Council in 2001-2002. Presently she serves as chair of the Primary Prevention Committee of NC's Healthy Weight in Children and Youth Task Force. Dr. Dunn is currently forging a new relationship with the NC Academy of Family Physicians to further advancements in nutrition and health education. Dr. Dunn's work has resulted in her induction into the Academy of Outstanding Faculty Engaged in Extension in 2001.