Dave Ellis

Dave Ellis is one of the most accomplished thought leaders in the high performance fueling space. He has an impressive resume with a history of innovation that dates back even before he started Nebraska’s nutrition department in 1994.

Ellis is known for innovative approaches to organizing training tables that make food coachable, an approach that is emulated in countless athletic settings globally. He was one of the first to emphasize the need to score weight carrying capacity of athletes by measuring and scoring frame measurements.  An advocate for athletes at all levels, Ellis is also adept at implementing effective budgets that ensure athletes are being adequately fueled and that an athlete’s body composition goals are realistic relative to the ability of an athlete’s frame to carry the weight. 

Ellis’ impact on the field of sports nutrition has been immense and not only for the athletes who benefit from his expertise. Ellis served as the first president of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA), where he was a catalyst for the growth of performance nutrition across the United States. Ellis helped raise awareness to the importance of teams having trained nutritionists on staff, which in turned created more opportunities for Sports Registered Dietitians.

Ellis’ roots were established at Nebraska, where he did the bulk of his academic and applied training over the first half of his career. Ellis is in his third stint working for Husker Athletics, his most frequent stop among a 40-year career that has broadened his knowledge with a diver resume that has included exposure to a variety of sports and athletes. During the last 20 years, Ellis has become a leading authority food and supplement security, which focuses on the mitigation of adulterants in food and supplements that can harm the health and eligibility of athletes as a result of a positive drug test. 

In his first stop at Nebraska, Ellis created the Husker nutrition department in 1994. Nebraska was one of the first colleges or universities to have an organized performance nutrition program and is often credited with providing a performance nutrition model utilized by countless other programs. The creation of the nutrition department paid big dividends, as the Husker football program won national titles in 1994, 1995 and 1997 under Hall of Fame Head Coach Tom Osborne. Looking for an edge over his peers, Osborne was the catalyst behind Nebraska creating a nutrition program, and he tabbed Ellis to create and lead the nutrition efforts.

Through his work, Ellis has left a lasting impact on the high performance fueling world. Many of Ellis’ former assistants have gone on to lead their own nutrition programs. He continues to innovate at Nebraska, where the Huskers are opening a brand new training table and performance nutrition space in 2023. Nebraska’s commitment to nutrition combined with Ellis’ vision and expertise will keep the Huskers at the top of the performance nutrition field for years to come.

An Omaha native, Ellis earned his undergraduate degree in human nutrition from Nebraska in 1988. He returned to Nebraska and completed his graduate work necessary to become a registered dietitian in 2000.