Dr. Long received her doctorate in Health Education and is the director of our undergraduate dietetics (DPD) program. She practiced as a clinical dietitian for 11 years before pursuing her career in academia. Her specialty is medical nutrition therapy, nutrition education, and nutrition assessment. She is co-author of 5 nutrition textbooks.

Dr. Long has been active in the leadership of The American Dietetic Association since 1982. She recently completed a 3-year term as a member of the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for The American Dietetic Association. She has also held leadership positions at the local and state levels, including president of the Illinois Dietetic Association.

Dr. Allan Higginbotham

Dr. Higginbotham joined the SIUC Dietetic faculty in 2002. His research interest include physiological mechanisms that control energy balance and alterations in these mechanisms that result in obesity and disease processes that are associated with obesity including diabetes and cancer.

Dr. Bill Banz

Dr. Banz received his doctorate in Nutrition at the University of Tennessee. He grew up in central Wisconsin, receiving his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. He also has an adjunct appointment with the Department of Physiology in the School of Medicine.

His specialization is in nutrition physiology, focusing primarily on the relationship amongst the bioactive components of functional foods, health and gene-nutrient interaction. Much of his research is concentrated on the health effects of soybeans, soybean phytochemicals and synthetic estrogens ranging across a wide spectrum of topics, from basic mechanistic research to applied human studies. Dr. Banz teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in nutrition and dietetics.