ANNAPOLIS, MD., April 1, 2010 Mary Petersen, founder and executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAF), is pleased to announce that Dr. Tim Ryan, president of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), will keynote the 2010 CAF Leadership Conference, June 25-27 at Baltimore International College.
CAFs annual Leadership Conference offers professional development and skills-building to deans, directors and chairs of foodservice-training programs at schools nationwide.
We are thrilled to host Dr. Ryan to keynote CAFs sixth-annual conference, Petersen says. His leadership and vision have generated the sustained growth, innovation and quality improvements that have shaped todays CIA, making him ideal to speak to this years conference theme of Innovation and Inspiration.
As president of the CIA, Ryan oversees all college programs and three campuses in New York, California and Texas. A CIA graduate, Ryan returned to the college in 1982 and advanced through faculty and leadership positions to become the first president of the college with a CIA degree in 2001. During his tenure, the college launched groundbreaking new academic programs, including the first bachelors degrees in culinary-arts management and baking-and-pastry-arts management in 1994; developed branch campuses in St. Helena, Calif., and San Antonio, Texas; advanced continuing-education and certification programs; and produced a highly successful publishing program, award-winning videos and television shows.
A leader in the American Cuisine movement, Ryan helped develop the American Bounty Restaurant at the Hyde Park, N.Y., campus while a faculty member in 1982. This pioneering concept showcased American cuisine at a time when French restaurants prevailed. He has also championed support of local agriculture, the integration of nutrition and healthy eating practices in the colleges curriculum and conferences, and more in-depth study of global cuisines and cultures.
Manifestations of Ryans commitment to global cuisines include the colleges industry-leading Worlds of Flavor Conference and its Latin American cuisines initiative at its newest San Antonio campus. This campus, currently completing a major expansion, is dedicated to providing formal culinary education to help aspiring Latin American chefs become industry leaders, and to elevating Latin American cuisines among the great cuisines of the world.
The list of honors Ryan has earned in his career includes numerous gold medals in international competitions. He captained the first U.S. team to win a Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg and the team that won the World Championship at the 1988 Culinary Olympics in Germany. He was also among the youngest to become a Certified Master Chef (CMC) and the youngest president of the American Culinary Federation. Most recently, Ryan joined five other foodservice luminaries as a new member of the James Beard Foundations Whos Who of Food & Beverage in America, the induction ceremony for which will be held May 3, 2010.
Source: Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education