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Paul Abernathy was head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition from 1974-1991. During this period the department greatly increased its emphasis on research. External grants increased from $30,000 per year to more than $1.5 million. Teaching and Extension goals were also strongly supported. He fostered a climate of collegiality and respect within the department that continues to this day. His favorite policy comment was, “I never hired anyone unless they were smarter than I am.” The humor and humility evident in that statement say much about how he created this open working environment.
Dr. Abernathy received the B.S. degree from Berry College. This was a unique institution dedicated to low-income rural children of the south. Everyone had to work two days per week and go to classes 4 days per week. After graduation he served for three years in U.S. Army Intelligence, then he pursued the M.S. degree at University of Georgia, followed by the Ph.D. degree from Cornell University in 1960. He conducted human nutrition research at the Georgia Experiment Station for six years, followed by eight years at Virginia Polytechnic Institute as associate professor and professor before coming to Purdue as department head in 1974.
His research primarily centered on protein needs of children, but in later years he focused on obesity and longevity with emphasis on healthy lifestyle. He published about 40 scientific articles. He was active in campus leadership and professional organizations. He served as chair of the Committee on Use of Human Subjects in Research for several years, editor and associate editor of the IFT Nutrition Division Newsletter and chair of the Indiana Nutrition Council. He served on an “Expert Work Group” for the United States Department of Agriculture establishing a scientific basis for policy decision on evaluating protein quality of meats, poultry and their products for regulatory purposes. He served on the executive committee of the nutrition division of IFT and received a USDA Superior Service Award.
Growing up on the farm in the mountains of north Georgia, he lived without electricity, telephones, central heat or refrigeration. He milked cows by hand, planted and cultivated crops with aid of mules, worked at a “saw mill” cutting trees and hauling logs. His nearest neighbor, mail delivery and the bus were all a mile away. Neither of his parents, John and Zora, went to school beyond sixth grade but they had a strong desire for their four children to “get a good education” which in their mind was through high school. He went to college to please them. Paul Abernathy credits Mr. Newman Parker, who taught him for the first five grades of primary school with 30 students in 7 grades, as having a big impact on his education. He is also grateful to his wife, Mary Frances, who helped finance his study for a Ph.D. He attributes the success he has had to the work ethic and values he developed during these formative years and the encouragement of his parents, teachers, friends, wife and a lot of luck.
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