Colette Helene Janson-Sand ’69G ’80Ph.D.

Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine,” a directive that professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics Colette Helene Janson-Sand took to heart during her long career. She came to her life’s work unexpectedly while pursuing a doctoral degree in animal science with a focus on laminitis, an inflammatory disease of horses’ hooves thought to be related to nutrition.

At UNH, a scholarship she received to study with famous nutritionists at MIT so inspired her that she changed her academic focus from horses to the effect of food on the human body. And when her advisor asked her to help teach his popular undergraduate course Animals, Food and Man, her interest in nutrition as related to diabetes was piqued, and her career path set.

Despite a challenging academic schedule, Janson-Sand found time for an active campus social life while living in UNH’s Babcock Hall where she was known for her dry wit and organizational skills. “It was a different time back then,” says her husband, Paul Sand ’75G, as he remembers her helping run Babcock’s Thursday afternoon Happy Hour, serving as purchaser and bartender and organizing informal dinners in the first-floor lounge. Recalling how they met, Paul Sand says that “Babcock is where she met her eventual husband, a lowly, lonely physics major. But a lucky one as it turned out.” He and Colette were married for 37 years.

After Janson-Sand earned her Ph.D., the couple moved to Washington, D.C., where Paul worked for the National Institutes of Health and she became chief dietitian at Montgomery General Hospital. She mentored the dietitians who reported to her, but also learned from them, including how much they regretted not having hands-on clinical experience before beginning their careers in a challenging hospital setting.

In 1981, Janson-Sand applied for a position as assistant professor of home economics at UNH. During her interview with other faculty members, she used what she had learned from the dietitians in Washington and outlined her ideas for clinical experience for students. It was an innovative approach that she always felt had helped her be hired.

Under her direction, students in the UNH dietetics program immediately started interviewing patients and studying charts in four local hospitals. The experience gave them an edge when applying for the internships they were required to complete after graduation. In 1990 Janson-Sand implemented and launched UNH’s own dietetic internship program.

Her interest in the effect of nutrition on diabetes continued to grow, and in 1984 she answered a newspaper ad for someone to create menus and order food for Camp Carefree in New Durham, a summer camp where children with type 1 diabetes were able to enjoy a traditional camping experience. The following year, she brought UNH student volunteers with her. The students gained real-world experience in nutrition counseling while preparing meals and snacks and helping young campers understand the importance of counting carbohydrates. Janson-Sand was affiliated with the camp for 30 years.

She helped teach other teachers as well. She spent many years as a UNH Cooperative Extension specialist, educating New Hampshire teachers about healthy eating, knowledge that they could in turn pass on to their own students.

More than two decades after Janson-Sand joined the UNH faculty, the state of New Hampshire began requiring registered dietitians to be licensed, something she had been recommending for years. She was issued the first license in recognition of her work.

After Janson-Sand retired in 2017, she was asked what she missed most. The students, she said, including those who were struggling with the course work and came to her for help. “I’d work with them and then all of a sudden, a light would go on and they would do well. … I miss those successes, too.” That same year she received UNH’s Award for Excellence in Public Service.

It was a full and busy life, in which Janson-Sand was also active in Saint Mary’s Church in Rollinsford, including singing in the choir and being part of the St. Anne’s Guild.

Janson-Sand died on May 25, 2023, following a lengthy illness. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son, Christopher ’09 ’11G ’19G, and daughter, Rebecca Hearn ’09 ’11G, Rebecca’s husband, Eben ’11, as well as countless students and families who benefited from her conviction that proper nutrition can prevent many chronic illnesses and, for certain conditions, may even be a remedy.