Norge W Jerome

Dr. Norge W. Jerome was a groundbreaking researcher in the field of nutrition as well as a renowned international health and nutrition specialist. During her doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, she developed the discipline of nutritional anthropology, which has existed for over 50 years and is recognized internationally. She was the founder and first president of the Committee on Nutritional Anthropology (now Council on Nutritional Anthropology) and spent four decades at the University of Kansas School of Medicine as a professional nutritionist, educator and consultant.

Norge Winifred Jerome was born in a small rural village, Mon Plaisir, in the parish of St. John in Grenada, West Indies in 1930. The eldest of five children born to her parents, McManus Israel Jerome and Evelyn (Cuant) Jerome, she was an excellent student who successfully secured a place at St. Joseph’s Convent, a private Girl’s Secondary Boarding School in St. George’s, the capital of Grenada. At a time (1946) when very few Grenadian children could attend a Secondary School, she completed her Senior Cambridge Examinations, at the age of 16.

Norge spent nine years largely in St. George’s parish experimenting with dual interest as an elementary school teacher and community leader at the Grenada YWCA before being awarded a Leadership Training Scholarship at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica. This major change in her life gave her a “taste of scholarly activities” and UWI life. It was there Jerome immediately recognized her interest and future would be happiest and most fulfilled in an academic environment and that her career path was to live “with ideas within her head 24 hours a day.”

The taste for academia led Jerome to Howard University in Washington DC in 1956, where she completed the B.S. requirement for Nutrition and Dietetics major and Biochemistry minor. She was both surprised and delighted to learn that her first semester’s 4.0 grade point average qualified her for a tuition scholarship the following semester. Her incentive to receive a tuition scholarship was established and fulfilled the following seven semesters. She graduated in 1960 with the academic honor, Magna Cum Laude.

Jerome’s undergraduate achievement at Howard led to her receiving a Graduate Assistantship at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the option to expand her nutrition interest to Experimental Foods and Microbiology. Upon completing her Master’s degree in those subjects, she was recruited by her alma mater, Howard University, to serve at least one year as an Instructor of Dietetics and Nutrition before returning to Wisconsin to pursue her interests in International Nutrition Programs and activities. She discerned the strong need for International Nutrition specialists globally and decided to expand her focus to address hunger, food habits, and malnutrition globally. Her academic advisor suggested that this choice would mean adding an appropriate minor subject in one of the social sciences. She chose anthropology since her Grenadian experiences reminded her of the problems experienced there when “foreign” or visiting consultants were unable to provide appropriate or effective solutions on local issues and events – solely because they did not understand the Grenadian culture.

Nutritional Anthropology thus began to appear in “Term Papers” when an Anthropology issue was weaved into a Nutrition term paper and a nutrition issue was weaved into an Anthropology term paper. After completing her post-doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Milwaukee in 1967, Dr. Jerome joined the faculty at the University of Kansas Medical Center and advanced to become a Professor of Preventive Medicine.

During her tenure, she studied food consumption patterns in households of African- Americans and Grenadians of African descent, the influence of television advertising on the food selection of preschoolers, the relationship between food intake and human performance in an Egyptian village over a seven-year period. She also studied the dietary practices of ambulatory cancer patients and the effect of life changing factors on individuals’ diet patterns.

In 1967, she was the first person to become a nutritional anthropologist. This field, now taught at universities around the world, researches how the culture of a people (behavior patterns, beliefs, history, etc.) is linked to food selection and health status. These studies help detect diet deficiencies and provide practical information on correcting household nutritional health, status and appropriate options to prevent disease. Dr. Jerome conducted research in the United States, the Caribbean and Egypt. She also served as consultant to food companies, e.g. Kellogg, Nestle and Campbell Foods.

In 1980, Dr. Jerome was senior author of a published book entitled Nutritional Anthropology: Contemporary Approaches to Diet and Culture. During her tenure at the University, she also served as the Director of the Office of Nutrition of the Bureau of Science and Technology of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) between 1988 and 1992. In these capacities, she initiated and supervised numerous nutrition programs world-wide.

Because of her expertise in culture, human nutrition and health, Dr. Jerome served on numerous national and international boards and committees. She was elected President of the Association for Women in Development (now known as the Association for Women’s Rights in Development) between 1990 and 1991 and presided over the Board of Directors between 1991 and 1993. She was also President of Solar Cookers International, which was responsible for introducing solar cookers to refugee camps and other poverty-stricken areas in the African continent, thereby promoting the use of free energy source and eliminating the need for the wastage of source expensive fuel. She was also a member and chair of the board of the Child Health Foundation, a charity which is dedicated to improving and saving children’s lives using inexpensive but effective methods.

Although she retired in 1995, Dr. Jerome continued her lifelong effort to improve people’s lives and to “leave the world a better place.” According to Jerome, the only way to achieve this is “to give until she can give no more.” Although she is a naturalized citizen of the United States, she also remains loyal to her beloved homeland of Granada. In 1998, she sponsored the founding of the Dr. Norge W. Jerome Grenada Teachers Awards program, which honors four teachers annually, presenting them with a prize for perpetuating the ideals of Grenada‘s earliest education legends. She has also been actively involved in a project for the Main Library in Grenada to provide necessary resources to students, teachers and the public.

Dr. Jerome retired from KU Medical Center in November 1995 and became a KU Medical Center Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. However, she soon returned to accept a new positon as Associate Dean of Minority Health which she held for three years. During that time, she developed and implemented an annual community Health Program that addressed the health needs of the population who called the small town of Nicodemus, Kansas “home.”

Norge is also remembered warmly by many individuals who participated in the Nutri-Check program developed by her Community Nutrition Laboratory and the laboratory team. They claim that the computerized approach for personally documenting their food and beverage intake and further assessing each item’s nutritional contribution provided a good strategy for understanding the contribution of each nutrient to a meal or snack.

For numerous contributions to society, the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health honored her by introducing the annual Norge W. Jerome Excellence Award in Preventive Medicine, given annually to a qualified graduating medical student. She has also appeared on numerous radio programs and television feature throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, including NBC’s Not for Women Only with Barbara Walters.

In her spare time, Dr. Jerome enjoyed water exercise, gardening and reading. However, one of her greatest joys was advising young people to maintain creativity, foster innovation, be themselves and realize their dreams. In addition, she encouraged Caribbean people through her philanthropy to believe in themselves, help others and embrace change by blending old traditions and new ideas.

Her legacy of giving back will live as follows:

1. Her groundbreaking scholarly and intellectual contributions have lasting impact.

2. Her mentoring impact lives on as well as the impact she had by providing service and donations to innumerable organizations.

3. Her papers were donated to the LaBudde Special Collections and Archives at the University of Missouri- Kansas City in order to be available to future scholars. They include work on nutrition, women’s issues, international development, civil rights, etc. LaBudde also has mementoes of the myriad of tributes and awards Norge earned.

4. The annual Norge W. Jerome Excellence Award in Preventive Medicine mentioned above.

5. The Grenada Teachers and Library programs mentioned above.

6. At the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City MO, she funded the “Norge Jerome Stage”.

7. She also funded the “Norge Winifred Jerome Youth Mentorship Program” at Crittenton Children’s Center, which is part of St. Luke’s Foundation.

8. She funded various health-related projects Mt. Carmel Redevelopment Corporation (Kansas City KS).

9. She was a careful saver and investor and left her assets to the Norge Winifred Jerome Charitable Fund at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, along with very specific instructions for the trustees of her fund.

Donations in honor of Dr. Jerome can be sent to:

• This link shows how to donate to her fund at the Community Foundation. Be sure to document the name and/or code (jero00) to be sure that it gets placed properly.

• Unicorn Theatre. Att’n: Cynthia Levin, Producing Artistic Director; [email protected]; (816) 783-5511; 3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111.

• St. Luke’s Foundation for its “Norge Winifred Jerome Youth Mentorship Program” at Crittenton Children’s Center. Katie Hall; [email protected]; (816) 932-3832; 901 E 104Th Street; Kansas City, MO 64131. Be sure to explain it is for the Crittenton Children’s Center. I cc: Wanda Taylor, Program Director, [email protected], (816) 767-4319 to make sure that it gets to Crittenton.

• Mt. Carmel Redevelopment Corporation. Attention: Pam Smart, Executive Director; [email protected], (913) 621-4111, x4; 1220 Troup Ave., Kansas City, KS 66104

In 2021, Norge was inducted into the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame.

The world is indeed a much better place because of the life and work of Dr. Norge Winifred Jerome.

Dr. Jerome was predeceased by her parents, two brothers and one sister. She is survived by two sisters (Theresa Mary Jerome Jocelyn Moses, both in Grenada) and by the following nieces and nephews: Jacinta Johnson (Toronto); Tracey, Mark and Sacha Jerome and Gail George (England); Stephen, Andre and Diane Jerome (Grenada); Marcella and Michelle Moses (New York) and Byron Moses in Grenada. Great-nieces and nephews live in Grenada and the US.

A celebration of Dr. Jerome’s life will be held at Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111 on the afternoon of April 24th, 2022. It will be live-streamed and her many admirers are invited to send short video testimonials. Contact Claude Thau, [email protected], 913-707-8863 for more details.

After the Celebration of Life event, Norge’s ashes will rest at D. W. Newcomer’s Sons (Johnson County Funeral Chapel & Cemetery), 11200 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park KS 66210, Niche 16 A & B in Phase 1 of Lot Elevation 19 at the garden described as GFN2-Mausoleum.