Longtime Loyola faculty member Joanne Kouba retires

Daniel P. Smith

After a distinguished 30-year career among the faculty ranks at Loyola University Chicago, Joanna Kouba is retiring.

An associate professor in the Department of Applied Health Sciences at the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, Kouba’s teaching, research, and community-minded, student-centered ethos propelled dietetics studies and activities at Loyola, first at the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and, since 2019, at the Parkinson School.

“In the reflective Jesuit tradition, we should always be asking ourselves, ‘How can we do this better?’ That’s what I tried to do myself and I hope that’s the legacy I leave,” Kouba says.

An advocate for students

Loyola hired Kouba as an assistant professor in 1994 to teach nutrition and dietetics to undergraduate students, but primarily to start a dietetic internship, a key educational step on the path to becoming a registered dietician.

Over the subsequent three decades, Kouba led the internship program with an unwavering commitment to students.

Alongside sharing foundational nutritional knowledge, she pushed students to use data to inform their work, promoted “soft skills” like time management, writing, and listening, and trumpeted the Jesuit value of care for the whole person. Noting the evolution of the dietetics field beyond traditional roles in clinical environments and foodservice management, she crafted partnerships generating novel opportunities for students in private practice, corporate environments, and with professional sports teams.

“The students today need to have a lot of skills to be successful in their future, and that’s a challenge, but one I hope I’ve positioned them to conquer,” Kouba says.

Kyle Archdeacon, who completed his Dietetic Internship last year, called Kouba “an ever-present force” for students who encouraged critical thinking and brought passion to her role.

“It’s hard not to be inspired by [Kouba],” Archdeacon says. “She quickly moves from teacher to mentor and was continually looking out for the best interests of her students, which is so important in a fast-changing field like healthcare.”

A far-reaching touch

Kouba’s impact, however, extends far beyond the dietetic interns with whom she was most associated, as her classroom instruction, research, and community efforts touched many.

Kouba played an integral role in the launch of the master’s degree program in Dietetics, helped start the minor in Nutrition, and served as chair of the Department of Applied Health Sciences. She taught courses in food and nutrition, ranging from the basic undergraduate nutrition class to sessions covering food science, public health nutrition, and clinical nutrition. She also regularly led a course on nutrition for nurses as well as an undergraduate nutrition course for non-majors.

Kouba’s research, meanwhile, largely focused on optimizing health through food choice and she often collaborated with external partners and interdisciplinary colleagues, practicing precisely what she preached to students.

In one unique project, Kouba teamed with a geographer from Chicago State University and community agencies to assess food access in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood and the adjacent Village of Oak Park. The Kellogg Foundation-funded project exposed significant inequities in food access between the bordering communities with distinct socioeconomic profiles.

Kouba’s scholarly efforts and collaborative energy fueled innovative, interdisciplinary projects, including the School-Based Health Center at Proviso East High School in Maywood. Alongside colleagues from Loyola’s School of Nursing, Kouba established the nurse-managed clinic more than 20 years ago and it has provided immunizations, lab services, medical nutrition therapy, and other services to thousands of students over the subsequent two decades.

“This is a model of interprofessional collaborative practice that really fulfills the Jesuit mission of social justice and working to improve health equity,” says Kouba, who labels the Proviso East-based clinic a significant point of personal and professional pride. “Helping adolescents, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds, develop healthy habits and have access to sound health information has been so impactful.”

A respected colleague

Stephanie Wilson, director of the Parkinson School’s undergraduate Exercise Science Program, interacted with Kouba on school committees, community projects, and student activities over many years as a colleague. She calls Kouba “a true and impressive leader” who displays genuine empathy, encourages others, and brings her immense knowledge of nutrition to collaborative projects.

“Joanne exhibits vision, integrity, and the ability to inspire and motivate others,” Wilson says. “She is respected and many of her colleagues look up to her, including myself.”

In retirement, Kouba says she will miss her daily interaction with colleagues as well as Loyola’s collaborative environment, from developing curriculum to hosting workshops to crafting service projects alongside students and peers. Most of all, though, Kouba will miss creating experiential opportunities for students and helping them launch their careers.

“What I’ve seen students accomplish has been incredible,” she says. “That I could be a part of their individual journeys and help them on their way gives me great satisfaction.”