Marie Molde RD, MBA ’11: A Data-Driven Dietician

This article appeared in the November 2022 issue of the Dominican Magazine

Watching her mother cook homemade meals and her father cultivate crops on his farm, Marie Molde RD, MBA ’11 embraced healthy nutrition early in life.

It’s led her to a career as a registered dietitian, wellness expert and advocate for Americans to eat more plant-based foods.

“The average American eats less than one fruit or vegetable per day,” explained Molde, a client solutions executive with Datassential, a market research firm that uses data to help the food and beverage industry make nutritional decisions. “Eating more produce and focusing on a plant-based diet is a really important thing for overall health, and I’m proud to be part of any work I can do to move people toward that choice.”

Molde was drawn to Dominican University because it offered a combined MBA with a registered dietitian degree, which she says set the foundation for her career.

“Oftentimes, I do have students reach out to me asking how I got to where I am, as it’s pretty unique for a dietician to work at a market research firm,” Molde said. “I give credit to Dominican for developing this program where I could get both areas of expertise: business and nutrition.”

Earlier this year, Molde was recognized among the “rising stars of produce” by Produce Business, an international publication and website dedicated to the fruit, vegetable and floral industries.