Author and chef. She graduated from Skidmore College in 1928 with a degree in home economics and was named one of the 50 most outstanding graduates in 1972. She began her career as a therapeutic dietician at Presbyterian Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, before moving on to Cornell Medical Center in New York, where she educated doctors that correctly seasoned and attractively served food would help sick people respond better. In 1940, she was offered a position at the University of Texas, where she would teach catering and restaurant management. The University Tea Room was the name of the lab she built for her classes. The Home Economics Building grew in popularity among staff and students to the point where it was allocated its own space between 24th and San Jacinto streets. In 1940, she left Austin for a better-paying job at the Houston Country Club, which led to her becoming the manager of Joske's Garden Room restaurant and catering business. She returned to Austin in the early 1950s to manage the famous Driskill Hotel's dining room and catering business. In 1955, she started working as the director of food services at Neiman-Marcus, where she managed the Xodiac Room, one of Dallas' most exclusive restaurants. She went on to supervise The Hedges in the new Fort Worth store in 1963, where she continued to deliver the same level of expertise. She oversaw nutrition at The Greenhouse, a new Neiman-Marcus health and beauty spa in Arlington, Texas. Several of her recipes are still on the department store's menu, including her famous Poppy Seed Dressing. In 1969, she resigned from Neiman-Marcus and began a new career as a food consultant, teaching, and making public speaking appearances. She published six cookbooks between 1957 and 1979, "Helen Corbitt's Cookbook," "Helen Corbitt's Potluck," "Helen Corbitt Cooks for Looks," "The Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company," "Helen Corbitt's Greenhouse Cookbook," and "The Helen Corbitt Collection." She also wrote food columns for the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock and the Houston Chronicle. In 1968, she received the solid gold Escoffier plaque from the Confrérie de la Chaine des Rôtisseurs, and in 1969, the Golden Plate Award (the first woman to do so) and the Outstanding Service Award from the Texas Restaurant Association. A 1975 profile by the Chicago Tribune described Corbitt as "the Balenciaga of food and the best cook in Texas". In 2009, the Los Angeles Times described her as "the Julia Child-esque cooking celebrity with a Texas twang".