John O’Neill named director of the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State

John O’Neill has been named the director of the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State. He succeeds Bert Van Hoof on July 1, 2011.

A member of the Penn State faculty since 2001, his research focuses on strategic management, lodging management and development, real estate valuation, work-life balance in the lodging industry, and hotel branding.

Prior to working at Penn State, O’Neill was an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1994 to 2001. He was a visiting faculty member at Novgorod State University in Russia in 2000 and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Rhode Island in 1997. He has also worked in industry, notably as a senior associate for Coopers & Lybrand from 1991 to 1994; director of hotel market planning for Holiday Inn Worldwide from 1990 to 1991; manager and senior manager of hotel development planning for Marriott Corporation from 1988 to 1990; consultant and senior consultant for Laventhol & Horwath from 1985 to 1988; and front office manager and housekeeping manager for the Hyatt Corporation from 1984 to 1985.  

In addition to his professional and academic roles, O’Neill has been a consultant for dozens of companies, including the Darien Hospitality Group, Hilton Hotels, Marriott International, American Express, Citizens Bank, GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Kaplan Publishing, Prentice Hall, as well as a number of law firms.

O’Neill is the recipient of several awards, including a favorite professor award from Penn State, the Teacher of the Year Award from Johnson & Wales University, and excellence awards from the Marriott and Hyatt Corporations. He has given invited talks throughout the United States and has been quoted or mentioned in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, USA Today, and Business Week.

Kendall College School of Culinary Arts launches part-time format for baccalaureate degree completion

The Kendall College School of Culinary Arts will launch a new program in October 2011 for part-time students to complete their bachelor’s degree in the culinary arts. The new flexible learning option, designed for working adults who have already obtained an associate degree in the culinary arts from Kendall, will blend online and traditional on campus instruction.

According to Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE, MBA, dean of Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts, the new B.A. part-time completion program offers flexibility to chefs already working in the marketplace as well as new students eager to begin their careers.
 
In the junior and senior years of the baccalaureate program, students further their knowledge of the culinary arts with classes in global cuisine, food science, advanced pastry and research and development while honing their business skills and deepening their understanding of the business world. The new part-time format also includes a concentration in culinary nutrition currently offered to students in the traditional B.A. program. Courses are 10 weeks in duration, including an intensive integrative senior project required for graduation.

Visit www.kendall.edu.

The Culinary Institute of America launches Menu for Healthy Kids website

Responding to the growing problem of childhood obesity in the United States, The Culinary Institute of America has launched an innovative new website to provide important information, statistics, and recipe solutions titled Menu for Healthy Kids: Fostering Positive Change in Our Schools, http://healthykids.ciachef.edu. It is geared for utilization by five key audiences: school administrators, food service directors, foodservice industry, teachers, and parents and kids.

Content on the new website will be updated regularly, keeping pace with scientific advancements. Links to other informational sources will also be kept current. The site will provide live news feed as well, guaranteeing updates on nutritional breakthroughs. A link to YouTube CIA cooking videos offers healthy menus instruction. There will be scientific content from the CIA's research arm, The Menu Research and Flavor Discovery Institute. People can sign up to receive e-mail updates. A coordinating Facebook page has been launched, and podcasts are planned with prominent school lunch reformers.

The website was established to achieve key objectives, said the CIA's Rico Griffone:

• Increase collaboration and dialog among individuals, institutions, and industry working to improve school food.
• Identify and promote best practices that are currently working in school foodservice.
• Create a dynamic virtual community for exchanging information and resources about food and food practices in schools and at home that lead to improved child health.

The Menu for Healthy Kids website is the latest component of a larger, forward-thinking initiative launched by the CIA to address the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. In May, the school's San Antonio, TX campus hosted the Healthy Flavors, Healthy Kids conference, which brought together 200 diverse professionals from around the country, including Assistant White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass and Dr. Janey Thornton, USDA deputy under secretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services.

Visit www.ciachef.edu.

The Chef’s Academy appoints chef Jeff Bane as dean of culinary education

The Chef’s Academy, the Culinary Division of Harrison College, a 108-year-old, nationally accredited institution that offers more than 30 degree programs in five schools of study, has appointed chef Jeff Bane MLD, CEC, CCE dean of culinary education North Carolina/curriculum program coordinator. In this position, Bane will assist instructors in developing learning styles and curriculums, inform students of their progress in the program, complete performance appraisals, and monitor grades, schedules and course loads.

Prior to joining The Chef’s Academy five years ago, Bane received his associate’s degree in culinary arts and bachelor’s degree in food service management from Johnson and Wales University’s Charleston, S.C. campus and holds an associate’s degree in pastry arts from The Chef’s Academy as well as a master’s degree in leadership development from Saint Mary of the Woods College in Saint Mary of the Woods, Ind. He served as an executive chef for ten years in Montana, Alaska, Utah, Idaho and Arizona. Bane spent three years overseas working at resorts in New Zealand, France and Austria. He also spent a summer in the Balearic Islands of Spain as a private chef.

Bane grew up in Fort Wayne, Ind. and now resides in Morrisville, N.C. He is involved in many professional organizations, including the National Ice Carving Association, the American Culinary Federation, the American Homebrewers Association and the World Association of Chefs Societies. In 2010, Bane was named American Culinary Federation Indianapolis Chef Educator of the Year.

Ocean County Vocational Technical School student wins top award at Dessert Wars competition

At Branches restaurant in West Long Branch, New Jersey on May 24, OCVTS student Ashley Johnson received the Top Student Award at the Dessert Wars competition. Johnson assisted team coach, OCVTS pastry arts instructor, chef Dennis Melia, in creating the sugar show piece for the event. Chef Joe, basic foods instructor, Barry Ward, an adult evening school student, and Johnson worked long hours after school to learn the basics of sugar with chef Melia.

Melia says, "The techniques that I shared with my students were the result of the great masters classes that the French Pastry School provided for culinary instructors at the FENI Summit in February in Chicago. All of the students involved worked really hard and prepared desserts, artisan chocolates and petit fours for a thousand guests."

The proceeds were donated to the The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The event was sponsored by 94.3 the Point radio station.

ProStart® high school culinary students to benefit from McCormick For Chefs® $10,000 donation to NRAEF

McCormick For Chefs®’ $10,000 charitable contribution to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProStart program will support students as they pursue their dreams of a career in the restaurant and foodservice industry.

The check presentation included the McCormick For Chefs team, ProStart Students and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation board members

As a national ProStart partner, McCormick For Chefs® demonstrated its commitment by donating $1 and providing red wristbands and stickers to every attendee who had their badge scanned at the company’s National Restaurant Association Show booth.

Phil Kafarakis, vice president of McCormick For Chefs®, said, “ProStart plays an important role in helping set high standards for the industry and for culinary professionals. We applaud and fully embrace any efforts that support and help real students pursue their passion for flavor and culinary adventure. Our $10,000 donation further confirms McCormick For Chefs®’ dedication to partnering and growing the ProStart program. This initiative is one more way McCormick & Company gives back to the communities in which it operates, instilling its Power of People™ philosophy.”

Visit www.prostart.restaurant.org.

Walla Walla Community College culinary arts Student Kristin Swaggart wins ACF’s Be Like "Mike" Contest

Kristin Swaggart of Kennewick, Wash., a culinary-arts student at Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla, Wash., was named winner of the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) Be Like “Mike” contest and will shadow ACF National president Michael Ty, CEC, AAC, at the 2011 ACF National Convention, July 22-26, in Dallas. Airfare, accommodations and a full registration to the convention will be provided.

Swaggart was selected as winner of the Be Like “Mike” contest from four other semifinalists. Eligible applicants had to be either a first-, second- or third-year full-time culinary student enrolled in a degree-granting culinary program at a university or college, or an apprentice in an American Culinary Federation Education Foundation apprenticeship program; an ACF member; and at least 18 years old. Entrants had to submit a signed letter of endorsement from their department chair and/or school/apprenticeship director, as well as a 500-word essay describing why they aspire to be a culinary leader and how shadowing Ty at the 2011 ACF National Convention would help them reach their goal.

Swaggart, a member of ACF Northwest Wine Country Chapter, is pursuing her Associate in Applied Arts and Sciences Degree in Culinary Arts from Walla Walla Community College. She recently participated in ACF’s Western Regional Baron H. Galand Culinary Knowledge Bowl as a member of the Walla Walla Community College team. While the team did not claim the regional title of this “Jeopardy”-style tournament that tests students’ culinary knowledge, they represented their school and ACF chapter well against the other six competing teams.

The following applicants were semifinalists in the contest: Sierra Grden of Walla Walla, Wash., a student at Walla Walla Community College, and a member of ACF Northwest Wine Country Chapter; Ryan Manning of Burke, Va., a student at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Richmond, Va., and apprentice at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Va., and a member of ACF Virginia Chefs Association; Alijose Prieto of Davie, Fla., a student at McFatter Technical Center, Davie, and a member of Fort Lauderdale ACF Inc.; and Amy Ramirez of Roseville, Calif., a student at Institute of Technology, Citrus Heights, Calif., and a member of ACF California Capital Chefs Association.

Visit www.acfchefs.org.