Wendy Van Amson

Nonprofit executive and dietitian Wendy Van Amson was born on July 18, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York to Carlton and Shirley Tempro. Van Amson attended P.S. 262, Meyer Levin Junior High School, and Midwood High School. She received a full scholarship to attend Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1972; and, in 1973, she transferred to New York University, where she received her B.S. degree in nutrition in 1976. Van Amson then received her M.P.H. degree in public health education from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 1983.

In 1976, Van Amson completed a year-long dietetic internship at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston before working at Queens Hospital Center in New York until 1981. During graduate school, she worked for Project Return, a drug rehabilitation facility. In 1983, Van Amson launched her own private nutritional advising firm, Tempro and Associates, and worked as a registered dietitian and certified nutritionist, providing consultations to individuals, schools, therapeutic communities, and corporate nutrition education programs with a focus on preventative measures and public health. In 2003, Van Amson co-founded and became director of Independent School Diversity Network (ISDN) with retired actress Ester Moses Hatch, creating safe spaces for communication between parents and educators and acting as a support system for parents with African American students in private schools. Van Amson has also worked with the Anti-Racist Alliance movement for racial equity in New York, coordinating parent group meetings during the school year, educating parents on independent schools, and providing assistance with the college application process.

In 2005, Van Amson joined the board of directors of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and the board of directors for the student-run organization Diversity Awareness Initiative for Students in 2007. Van Amson was also a board member of the Nightingale Bamford School in New York and served on the board of trustees at the Bank Street College of Education.

Van Amson married George Van Amson in 1986, and the two reside in New York City. They have three children: Alexandra, Victoria, and Schuyler.

Wendy Van Amson was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 15, 2019.