Healthy Living is a Passion for Anita Lang (TPR ’89)

Carnegie Mellon is well known for a lot of things, especially the passion of its community. Anita Lang (TPR ’89) is a perfect example of that passion, and the former swimmer is using that energy to make positive change in the United States’ ongoing battle with nutrition.
    
Lang, who still swims at least three times a week and picked her house in Chapel Hill, N.C. based on its proximity to the local pool, is in the early development stages of starting a health food company called Nina’s Naturals.
    
“I’ve been very interested in health and wellness for my entire life. My passion is food and health. It always has been,” Lang said. “It’s kind of an emerging market and it’s gaining a critical mass of acceptance. Americans are really having a lot of health issues that are food-based. We’re just eating horribly.”
    
Lang recently completed chef classes in raw food certification and is developing a line of raw crackers that are chockfull of nutrients. She also has designs on opening a small juice bar and café.
    
“Right now I’m in recipe development. I hope to package the crackers and start selling them around Chapel Hill and maybe get into Whole Foods,” Lang said.
    
This isn’t the first start-up venture for Lang, who launched a company called WiseWire with her then-fiancé in 1995. A precursor to RSS feeds and Google, Wisewire utilized artificial intelligence and machine-learning techniques to surf the Internet and provide individuals with personalized newspapers based on their defined interests.
    
“We were way ahead of the curve. Lycos was out there, but it was the only Google-like way to search the web,” Lang said.
    
The company really took off once it received a prestigious Benjamin Franklin grant and became attractive to investors.
    
“Once we got the grant, we had investors that wanted to become involved with the company. The grant was kind of a seal-of-approval to the venture capitalist community,” Lang said.
    
WiseWire rapidly expanded and eventually had a professional staff of 50. In 1998, Lycos bought the company and Lang moved to Boston to help with the company’s transition.
    
“We worked every day and night, and had every issue known to man, but it was a very exciting time,” Lang said. “It was a huge endeavor and a huge experience.”
    
Lang, who is a single mother to 15-year-old Monica, 13-year-old Julia and 6-year-old C.C., matriculated to Carnegie Mellon in 1985 and immediately fell in love with the university and the swimming program.
    
“I loved it. I thought it was amazing and I loved every minute of my time at Carnegie Mellon,” Lang said. “I started swimming in 10th grade and Carnegie Mellon was looking for swimmers. I loved swimming and enjoyed going to the pool. The team was awesome.”
    
In fact, Lang had such a great experience at Carnegie Mellon that she has remained involved in various capacities since leaving campus.
    
“For many years there was a little alumni chapter in North Carolina that I volunteered with and organized events for,” Lang said. “I just love the university so much and felt like it was one of the best times of my life. I’m grateful for the experience I had and wanted to give back what I could.”