Martha T. Conklin

Dr. Conklin holds a joint appointment with Management Development Programs and Services (MDPS) and Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management.

Her expertise is in education and research associated with food safety, dietetics, and noncommercial foodservice management. Before coming to Penn State, Conklin was director of applied research at the National Food Service Management Institute, where she helped forge a national research agenda directed at increasing the quality and cost-effectiveness of school nutrition programs. Conklin’s other professional experience includes director of food and nutrition services at Loretto Geriatric Center in Syracuse, New York, a senior living facility with five levels of care. Additionally, Dr. Conklin has worked at the University of Missouri medical center, and implemented a computerized foodservice management system in numerous healthcare and university accounts while she was working as a trainer for TransTech, Inc. She has held faculty positions in administrative dietetics and foodservice management at several universities.

Dr. Conklin earned her Ph.D. from New York University and her M.S. and B.S. degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has written over 75 articles, technical reports, and book chapters, and she is co-author of the first edition of Managing Child Nutrition Programs: Leadership for Excellence. Conklin continues to be actively involved in research. She is currently working with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Food and Nutrition, to study the effects of wellness policies on school nutrition programs in Pennsylvania, and on another project to revise the state’s Child Nutrition Financial Report. She is a member of the Society for Healthcare Foodservice Management, School Nutrition Association, and American Dietetic Association.