The Academy was conceptualized as the American Dietetic Association at a meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917, ultimately leading to its formal incorporation and first central office in Chicago. The Academy's founders were a visionary group of women — led by Lenna F. Cooper and the organization's first president, Lulu C. Graves — dedicated to helping the government conserve food and improve the public's health and nutrition during World War I.

Over one hundred years later, the Academy remains strongly connected to its origins: committed to helping solve the greatest food and nutrition challenges of the day through the transformational power of nutrition.