Margaret Pybas Lopez, Alumni

Margaret Pybas Lopez is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a School Nutrition Specialist who has worked to improve nutritional health and wellness for children and reduce food insufficiency and hunger in her roles as a clinical dietitian, high school teacher, university lecturer and school food service professional. 

She graduated from Gainesville High School in 1969.  Her favorite classes were math, sciences and Spanish.  Margaret was active in 4-H all thru her school years, giving her first method demonstration at the age of nine. In 1968 Margaret was a member of the first International Farm Youth Exchange to Peru and was named Cooke County 4-H Gold Star Girl.

Margaret received a Bachelor’s of Science in Home Economics- Food and Nutrition from North Texas State University School of Home Economics with a minor in chemistry in 1972.

Margaret started her professional career as a clinical dietitian for patient care at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and advanced to be Chief Clinical Dietitian.

During those years Margaret and her husband, Juan Lopez started a family.  They have three children, Melissa, Laura and Russell.  Margaret met her husband of forty-two years at the University of North Texas. They moved to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1982 after a short move to Tyler.  After the move, Margaret taught Consumer Home Economics in Santa Rosa, Texas, a small town with 300 students in high school. 

Margaret’s greatest professional accomplishments have been in school food service over the past 24 years.  She began her career in School Food Service in 1992 as School Nutrition Specialist for Region One Education Service Center in Edinburg, Texas, providing technical assistance and training to 37 school districts from Brownsville to Laredo.

In 2004, Margaret accepted the challenge of Food Service Director for Laredo ISD where she restored professionalism and credibility to the Child Nutrition Program by developing staff and improving menus.

The next move was to Dallas ISD in 2011 as the Director of Nutrition, Training and Quality Assurance for the Food and Child Nutrition Services.

 In 2015, Margaret became the Executive Director for Food and Child Nutrition Services. Now, as Executive Director, Margaret is supported by an outstanding team of Directors and staff that served 36.5 million meals to 157,000 students in 222 schools last year.  Margaret represents Dallas ISD on the board of directors for the Urban School Food Alliance, a group of the largest school systems in the country. Margaret is also an active part of the steering committee for the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children of Dallas County and the Dallas Coalition for Hunger Solutions. 

Margaret and Juan are proud of their family.  Melissa and Celso Ramos with Matthew and Sara live in Edmond, Oklahoma; Laura and Johnny Silva with son, Jackson, live in San Antonio. Russell and Jaime Lopez, with daughter Brynn, live in Denton County. They all enjoy getting together with the extended family at the Pybas Ranch in Sivels Bend.