Judy Beto ’73
“I think everyone is born with a story. If you believe in a divine power, which I do, you learn to open your mind to the doors that open around you.” Professor of Nutrition Sciences Judy Beto ’73 transferred to Dominican University because of her open mind and a spark—to study nutrition—that ignited, quite ironically, from a lesson by a professor at another university. Directed by her parents to choose a new school that she could travel to on the bus, Judy chose Dominican simply because it had a nutrition program. “I wasn’t particularly happy about it, to tell you the truth,” she said, “but that all changed when I felt the Dominican ‘aura’ and realized I was meant to go here.” After graduation, Beto left the area, taught for while, earned master’s and doctoral degrees, and became an internationally renowned nutrition expert. “Teaching was about the lowest thing on my radar when Dominican approached me to teach one course as a visiting professor,” Judy remembered. “That was 16 years ago, and here I am, in part because Dominican is a forward-looking university. It’s a place where you are inspired to become what you were meant to be. Now I can play a role in helping students like Tamara Karosanidze open their minds to the possibilities that await them.”
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An immigrant from the Republic of Georgia, Tamara Karosanidze’s first visit to the US was to attend her brother’s graduation at Dominican University. Taken by the beauty of the campus as well as by the warmth of the people, Tamara wanted to attend Dominican too. She began her studies as a French major, but was impressed by nutrition professor Judy Beto, who became her role model. Tamara changed majors, graduated and, with Dr. Beto’s encouragement, earned a master’s degree and her registered dietician certification. She is now a dietician at Bethany Methodist Hospital. “I was so loved and cared for at Dominican,” Tamara said. “I felt in many ways that I had never left home.” At the Candle and Rose ceremony in 2003, Tamara gave her rose to her brother.