In Memoriam: Barbara Ferguson Harland, 1925-2020

Barbara F. Harland, who served on the faculty at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for nearly three decades, died at a senior living center in Kensington, Maryland, on April 29. She was 95 years old.

A native of Chicago, Dr. Harland was a graduate of Iowa State University. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in nutrition at the University of Maryland.

Prior to joining the faculty at Howard University, Dr. Harland worked as a research biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was licensed as a registered dietician and nutritionist by the State of Maryland. In 1984, Dr. Harland accepted a faculty position at Howard University. She served as a tenured graduate professor within the department of nutritional sciences in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences for 30 years.

Dr. Harland was committed to research on the chemical compound, phytate. She continued to conduct research in her lab at Howard until she was 90 years old. In 2010, she established the Dr. Barbara F. Harland Endowed Scholarship Fund for Nutrition, to support student aid, equipment and supplies for the nutritional sciences program.