Indian American nutrition educationist Shailja Mathur has won the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS), its highest honor.
Mathur, Family and Community Health Sciences Extension Educator (FCHS) at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, received the award at NEAFCS Annual Session held October 20-23 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The award recognizes members who demonstrate exceptional leadership, outstanding educational programming, and significant professional development contributions to the field of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension.
Mathur’s 23-year career in nutrition education exemplifies this standard of excellence, according to a university press release.
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Since joining FCHS in 2014, she has led groundbreaking initiatives in chronic disease prevention and health promotion, with particular focus on addressing health equity among South Asian and other diverse communities.
Her accomplishments include co-leading the implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC-developed National Diabetes Prevention Program distance-learning model, which has achieved CDC “Full Plus” recognition—the highest level of recognition for outcomes and retention—with 90 individuals in the current year-long cohort completing the program.
Additionally, her New Jersey Empower to Prevent program received both 1st place State and 1st place Eastern Region awards for Excellence in Research from the NEAFCS.
Mathur has built and maintained critical partnerships between Rutgers Cooperative Extension and organizations, including the South Asian Total Health Initiative, Rutgers Medical School, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers School of Nursing and the Rutgers Institute for Health, Healthcare Policy, and Aging Research.
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Her work extends beyond program administration to include media outreach through television and radio, research contributions published in peer-reviewed journals, and the recruitment and training of peer leaders to ensure culturally relevant and sustainable community health interventions.
Her previous recognition includes the NEAFCS Social Media Outreach Award (2024), the Mary W. Wells National Diversity Award from NEAFCS (2018), and the Mary Jane Willis Diversity Award from Rutgers Cooperative Extension (2019).
As a CDC Lifestyle Coach Master Trainer and certified facilitator for multiple evidence-based programs, Mathur continues to advance FCHS’s mission of improving health outcomes and quality of life for New Jersey families through innovative community-engaged Extension programming.