Giving Back @ Union
Donor Profile - Dr. Annemarie Colbin

Annemarie ColbinUnion Institute & University is proud to shine a spotlight on our generous donors, those who support the university with their contributions to the UI&U Annual Fund, their donations to scholarship funds that benefit Union learners, and their enthusiasm for Union’s mission and vision.

This month, we have caught up with Dr. Annemarie Colbin (Ph.D., 2002), a regular at UI&U alumni events and staunch supporter of Union’s Annual Fund campaigns.

Dr. Colbin is the CEO and founder of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York and author of The Whole-Food Guide to Strong Bones: A Holistic Approach (Harbinger Publications, 2009).  Using her UI&U education, Dr. Colbin has paved new pathways in her field—and she continues to give back, to her community and to UI&U, in empowering ways.  Read below to learn why Dr. Annemarie Colbin supports the UI&U Annual Fund.

Why I Give to UI&U
I had a most wonderful time while earning my doctorate with Union.  It was difficult, but for me a fabulous experience.  As I was planning to do something kind of odd – finding the theoretical relationships between systems theory, chaos theory, quantum physics, and food – I needed to find people who “got” what I was about.  I met just the right people—my core, Rita Arditti and second core, Kevin Sharpe, were familiar with the diversity of materials I wanted to study.

In addition, I loved the Union system – the initial colloquium, having a group of people to connect with throughout the study period, the interaction with peers, and the seminars which gave me excellent back-ups in other subjects that were helpful and relevant.  I went through the program in four years, 1998-2002, loved every minute of it, and am most grateful for the existence of Union to support the outliers such as myself.