Penny Whelchel

Ms. Whelchel began teaching at Henderson in the Fall of 2008. She serves as the director of the didactic program in dietetics. The program has been granted initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60606-6995 (phone: 800/877-1600). Courses under Ms. Whelchel’s instruction include: Nutrition, Community and Life Cycle Nutrition, Advanced Nutrition, Sports Nutrition, Food Economics, Nutrition Services Administration, Experimental Food Science, and Senior Seminar in Dietetics.

Ms. Whelchel received her BS in Family and Consumer Sciences, Dietetics specialization, from HSU in 2004. She completed her dietetic internship through Louisiana Tech University in 2005 and then went on to obtain her MS in Nutrition Education and Health Promotion from Florida State University in 2006. During her internship, Ms. Whelchel was awarded the Louisiana Dietetic Association’s statewide award for Outstanding Dietetic Intern. While a student at HSU, she was a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society and the Lady Reddie cross country team, earning NCAA All-American honors.

Before coming to Henderson, Ms. Whelchel worked as the Campus Dietitian for Aramark at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Her interests include running marathons (2011 & 2013 Boston qualifier), road cycling, swimming, long-distance triathlons, and her Holland lop rabbit Doppler.  She was inducted into the Reddie Sports Hall of Honor in the fall of 2011.