10/21-Dr Brian Wansink, Tiffani Amber Thiessen

Dr Brian Wansink-Mindless Eating

Brian Wansink (Ph.D. Stanford 1990)  is the John Dyson Endowed Chair in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University, where he directs the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. He is the lead author of over 100 academic articles and books on eating behavior, including the best-selling Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (2006) along with Marketing Nutrition (2005), Asking Questions (2004), and Consumer Panels (2002).

From 2007-2009 Wansink was granted a leave-of-absence from Cornell to accept a Presidential appointment as Executive Director of USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the Federal agency in charge of developing 2010 Dietary Guidelines and promoting the Food Guide Pyramid (MyPyramid.gov).  While there, web hits to Dietary Guidelines increased 44% to 5.4 million/day, and he was named ABC World News Person of the Week.

Wansink’s award-winning academic research on changing eating behaviors has been published in the world’s top marketing, medical, nutrition and obesity journals. It contributed to the introduction of smaller “100 calorie” packages (to prevent overeating), the use of taller glasses in some bars (to prevent the overpouring of alcohol), and the use of elaborate names and mouth-watering descriptions on some chain restaurant menus (to improve enjoyment of the food). His results have been presented, translated, reported, and featured in television documentaries on every continent but Antarctica.

An Iowa native, he lives with his wife and three daughters in Ithaca, NY, where he’s a mediocre saxophone player in a rock-and-roll band and where he regularly enjoys both French food and french fries.

Tiffani Amber Thiessen-Actress

Tiffani Thiessen Born January 23, 1974 Has two dogs, Buck and Pearl, and two cats, Sadie and Savannah Is married to actor and artist Brady Smith Attended Valley Professional High School in Studio City, California. Won the Miss Junior America beauty pageant [1987] Won Teen Magazine's Great Model Search [1988] Made Cover Girl Magazine's Model of the Year [1989]

A versatile actress, Tiffani Thiessen has proven her talent from comedy to drama in a variety of film and television roles. From Woody Allen's comedy, "Hollywood Ending," to "Beverly Hills 90210," Thiessen's charisma has kept her career moving constantly forward and has gained her the adoration of millions internationally. Thiessen was recently seen in a nine-episode guest starring role on NBC's "Good Morning Miami." In 2003, she starred the Fox series "Fast Lane" with Peter Facinelli and Bill Bellamy, directed by McG. She also guest-starred on the NBC hit comedy, "Just Shoot Me" in a three-episode arc, portraying a columnist who becomes romantically involved with David Spade's character, and appeared in a recurring role on the ABC comedy "Two Guys and a Girl." Raised in Long Beach, California, Thiessen began modeling at the age of eight and soon went on to star in the television series, "Saved By the Bell" for five seasons. At the same time, she made her feature film debut in "Son In Law," opposite Pauly Shore. In 1993, she showed her range when Aaron Spelling cast her in Beverly Hills 90210, where she portrayed multi-layered 'Valerie Malone' for five seasons. Her other feature film roles include the comedy "Ladies Man," the independent film "Speedway Junky," with Jesse Bradford, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Daryl Hannah, "Love Stinks," with Tyra Banks and French Stewart, and the horror/comedy spoof "Shriek! If you Know What I did Last Friday 13th"opposite Tom Arnold. Recently Tiffani has started up her own Production company called Tit 4 Tat Productions which currently has a short film making the Film Festival circuit called Just Pray. Thiessen currently resides in Los Angeles.