Dr. Savage joined the faculty of the university’s Department of Nutrition and Food Science in 1949. She served as associate dean of the College of Home Economics (later the College of Human Ecology and now part of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) from 1984 until her retirement in 1986. In 1983 she was named Alumni Distinguished Service Professor. She gained recognition as a specialist in amino acid imbalance and the international problems of food and people. Among her publications is a widely used text, Food and People (3rd ed., 1979).
In 1982 she was the visiting Carol Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at Ohio State University. She received the College of Home Economics’ Faculty Excellence Award in 1983, and was a two-time recipient of the Women of Achievement Award given by the Commission for Women (1980, 1983) and a three-time recipient of the College’s Outstanding Teacher Award (1970, 1973, 1980). Her intellectual contributions to the life of the university have been recognized by placement of a plaque in her honor on a faculty study.