Kelly D. Brownell
American psychologist
Kelly David Brownell (born October 31, 1951) is an American clinical psychologist and scholar of public health and public policy at Duke University whose work focuses on obesity and food policy. He is a former dean of Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. Noted for his research dealing primarily with obesity prevention, as well as the intersection of behavior, environment, and health with public policy, Brownell advised former First Lady Michelle Obama's initiatives to address childhood obesity and has testified before Congress. He is credited with coining the term "yo-yo dieting", and was named as one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People" by Time Magazine in 2006.
Personal background
Brownell was born in 1951 and was raised in Indiana. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Purdue University in 1973, he was awarded a Ph.D in Psychology from Rutgers University in 1977. His advisor was Oscar Krisen Buros Professor G. Terence Wilson.
Career
In 1977, Brownell became a member of the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school. He began as an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry, was subsequently promoted to associate professor, and finally to full professor. During this period, he also served one year as a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NHI) National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The public source identifies “Kelly D. Brownell” as american psychologist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kelly, Brownell and American.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6386001. VIAF identifies the subject as 14992851. The Library of Congress control number is n79102709. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1951, 2006, 1973 and 1977.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kelly D. Brownell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.