WINTER2016

Most Likely to SucceedDRESSAGE CHAMPION JESSICA FOREND ’10 AIMS FOR THE OLYMPICS

FOOD + MEDICINE

Just What the Doctor Ordered

FUELING PRO ATHLETES

Stealth Vegetables,

Secret Sauces and Other

Tricks of the Trade

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10THE WINNING EDGEFor these culinary nutrition graduates, fueling professional athletes is a high-stakes game.Secret sauces, camo vegetables and fake “fried” chicken are tricks of the trade.

14MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEEDAn assistant trainer for a Grand Prix dressage champion, equestrian Jessica Forend ’10 is fixed on the ultimate carrot.

20LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINEAs healthcare shifts from sick care to more preventative meaures, JWU’s approach is just what the doctor ordered.

WINTER 2016

FEATURES

02 From the Chancellor04 Campus News08 Athletics26 Resource Development28 Alumni News30 Class Notes40 Career Update

DEPARTMENTS

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FROM THE CHANCELLOR’S DESK

ITH THE NEW YEAR comes new resolutions focusing on improvement and well-being. Maybe you’ve resolved to run a marathon, achieve a promo-tion, or to simply put your best foot forward each and every day.

If one of your resolutions is to eat healthier, Johnson & Wales University is making often confusing choices as clear-cut (and tasty!) as possible while remaining at the forefront of health. “Let Food Be Thy Medicine” discusses how our collaboration with Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine has led to two other pilot offerings: one in Providence with students at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, and one in Denver with students at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. JWU graduates such as Shawn Goldrick ’96 are bringing celebrity chef demonstrations to Boston Children’s Hospital and, at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Angelo Mojico ’95 has introduced room service made-to-order options such as sushi.

But our graduates aren’t only helping pa-tients. Pro-athletes are benefiting from alumni culinary skills and nutritional smarts to gain a competitive edge. “The Winning Edge” chroni-cles Bryson Billapando ’12 (U.S. soccer), Varun Shivdasani ’02 (U.K. soccer) and Simon Lusky ’10 (St. Louis Cardinals baseball) calibrating meals for injury prevention and certain team positions. Our culinary nutrition degree program is the only one in the country that

provides both a foundation in the culinary arts and accreditation by the Council for Education in Nutrition. Program graduates are meeting the increasing demand for food-based ap-proaches to disease management and preven-tion — and changing lives forever.

The life of Jessica Forend ’10 changed when, as a JWU student, she won the division championship in intercollegiate dressage for three consecutive years, the equivalent of a Triple Crown. “Most Likely To Succeed” tells her story as well as the evolution of JWU’s equine program. Growing up riding the pas-tures of Martha’s Vineyard, Forend garnered less show experience than her off-island peers. But after arriving at JWU, her dedication, pas-sion and the expert coaching and instruction she received helped her to become best in show. Today she’s a trainer for a Belgian-born Grand Prix rider ranked 22nd in the country. And her resolution? To one day qualify for the Olympics.

What are your resolutions? And have you been able to keep them? I invite you to share them with us and continue the conversation at jwumagazine@jwu.edu.

All the best,

JWU

Vice President of CommunicationsDOUG WHITING

Director of Design & Editorial ServicesBRIAN MURPHY

EditorDENISE DOWLING

Art DirectorBRIAN MURPHY

ContributorsJENNIFER BROUILLARDMIKE COHEAGREGORY DISTEFANOJULIE DUGDALEJULIA S. EMLENJORDAN FICKESSVANESSA E. GARCIASHARU GOODWYNROBYN HANKERSONMELINDA HILLKARA JOHNSTONHOLLI KEYSERRACHEL LACAILLEDONALD PAULHUSLISA PELOSI ED PEREIRA JEANNE RYANELIZABETH SCANLON ’97 M.S.STEPHEN SMITHMARY SWARDDAMARIS R. TEIXEIRALAUREN TKACSMIRIAM S. WEINSTEIN ’08 MBAMELINDA LAW WESTMORELAND

JWU Magazine is published four times a year including a special supplement for recent graduates. Photos (black and white or color prints), high-resolution digital images and news can be sent to JWU Magazine, 8 Abbott Park Place, Providence, RI, 02903 or emailed to jwumagazine@jwu.edu.

Selection and publication of entries are at the editor’s discretion. JWU Magazine is produced by University Communications in cooperation with Resource Development and Alumni Relations.

ChancellorJOHN J. BOWEN ’77

Providence Campus President and Chief Operating OfficerMIM L. RUNEY, LP.D.

Regional Campus PresidentsLARRY RICE, ED.D., ’90, NORTH MIAMIROBIN KRAKOWSKY ’88, ’08 ED.D., DENVERROBERT C. MOCK JR., ED.D., CHARLOTTE

Chancellor John J. Bowen ’77

Save The Dates

P R O V I D E N C E C A M P U SC H A R L O T T E C A M P U S

All-Class ReunionsApril 29–May 1, 2016

Visit alumni.jwu.edu to register for the weekends and for a complete list of alumni events.

Winter 20164

CAMPUS NEWS

ALUMNI AMONG RHODE ISLAND’S TOP YOUNG CHEFS

JWU’S PROXIMITY to restaurants was cited

as a reason why chefs tend to stay or move to

Providence in the Providence Business News’

(PBN) January cover story, “Rhode Island’s

Top Young Chefs.” Five of the 10 up-and-

coming executive chefs selected — all under

the age of 35 — are JWU alumni: Ben Sukle

’08 of Birch and Oberlin; Matt Varga ’05 of Gracie’s; Jennifer Backman ’03 of

Weekapaug Inn; James Mark ’08 of north; and the youngest at 25-years-

old, Antonio Wormley ’12 of Milk Money. JWU Assistant Dean Chef T.J. Delle

Donne ’04 says, “The size of Boston and New York [City] overshadows us, but

Rhode Island has incredible restaurants per capita that can stand toe to toe

with any of the other cities in the country known for their culinary arts scene.”

— Lauren Tkacs

SCENE OF THE CRIME

WILDCATS STUDYING criminal justice now have a space on campus to observe a “crime scene” and gather evidence for analysis. The College of Arts & Sciences’ new criminal justice lab contains comparison and forensic microscopes, fingerprinting kits, a bullet tra-jectory research window and 20 workstations.

“Using the new lab equip-ment will be like having a back-stage pass at your favorite con-cert,” says Sophia Gentile ’19, a criminal justice major. “I will be

able to see and participate in the inner workings of the

processes in my exact field of interest before graduating.”

JWU officially opened the lab in November 2015. Criminal justice students, staff, faculty and university leadership were

joined by several Rhode Island law enforcement representatives at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

“In the area of criminal justice, a strong relationship between our ed-ucational institutions and the professional law enforcement commu-nity is vital to continuing advancements in the field,” said Thomas Dwyer, JWU vice chancellor and provost. With 500 students in the pro-gram, approximately 150 will use this lab annually. — Lauren Tkacs

EXPLORING THE ETHICS OF HACKING WITH JOSHUA WRIGHT ’97

“WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE between me and a bad guy?” Joshua Wright asked during his recent talk about computer hacking at the Providence Campus. His answer? “One word: Permission.”

Wright, a 1997 graduate and this year’s School of Engineering & Design Distinguished Visiting Professor, is a writer, educator and active hacker who exposes critical data vulnerabilities and helps corporations and organizations safeguard their information sys-tems. “I hack to understand and reveal flaws in systems before they are maliciously exploited,” he said. 

Wright illustrated the complex nature of his job with a story about a consultancy job he took to troubleshoot the data network of a national financial services firm. He found a loophole, which could have allowed an attacker to redirect funds — roughly $500 million — into one or more bank accounts. He then asked, “So why don’t I live on my own personal island in the South Pacific?”

He freely admitted that his career path constantly sparks big questions about personal responsibility. “Ethics are defined exter-nally, while morals are your own code,” he noted. “I share what I do publicly because I believe that my actions should make the world a better place — like helping the FBI reduce predators or helping the U.S. Army better protect soldiers.”

Wright’s larger point to students: No matter what field you ultimately choose, “keep asking questions about morality,” he said. “Foster relationships with people who don’t think the same way you do. Accept that you may not always be right.” — Andrea Feldman

above: Students analyze a hypothetical crime scene.

above left to right: Lyev Nakhli ’18 and Joshua Wright ’97

Antonio Wormley ’12

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MAKING THANKSGIVING BRIGHTER FOR SOUTH FLORIDA FAMILIES

NORTH MIAMI CAMPUS STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF did their part to help South Florida families in need this holiday season. Students from the College of Culinary Arts prepared 200 turkeys that were served to more than 3,000 homeless men, women and children during Miami Rescue Mission’s annual Thanksgiving Day banquet dinner.

“We take great pride in giving back to the community and continually encourage our students to engage in community service as part of their learning and enrichment,” said Ismare Monreal, dean of students. “Hunger and homelessness are among the initiatives we support at Johnson & Wales University, and we are proud to partner with Miami Rescue Mission for this effort.”

Each year, the mission provides meals for the homeless on Thanksgiving. With limited kitchen space and chefs to prepare the

meals, the organization typically begins preparation at least one month in advance to ensure all the food is ready on the holiday. With

support from JWU, the organization was able to minimize the amount of preparation time, enabling more opportunity to as-sist families in need.

JWU’s support of Miami Rescue Mission also included a campuswide food drive for the organization’s “Pack the Pantry”

initiative. Faculty, staff and students donated nearly 575 pounds of nonperishable items, which were distributed to the mission’s

various sites. — Robyn Hankerson

MEN’S SOCCER MAKES SUN PLAYOFFS

THE NORTH MIAMI MEN’S SOCCER TEAM made it to the Sun

Conference playoffs for the first time last year. Pedro Codo ’16 was named

First Team All-Conference and voted “Champion of Character” by league

coaches for the Sun Conference. This award is presented to a student-

athlete who is a leader on his team, in the classroom, throughout campus

and in the surrounding community. — Sharu Goodwyn

GABRIELA FRAZIER ’16 WAS SELECTED to participate in the White House Internship Program during the fall of 2015. Frazier represented the North Miami Campus as one of three students selected from South Florida higher education institutions and nearly 175 students nationwide.

The White House Internship Program provides a unique opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and build leadership skills. This hands-on program is designed to mentor and cultivate today’s young leaders, strengthen their understanding of the executive office and prepare them for future public service opportunities.

As an intern in the office of management and administration, Frazier was responsible for conducting research, managing inquiries, attending meetings, writing memos and staffing events. She also had the opportunity to attend the weekly speaker series, as well as participate in service projects at local schools and nonprofit organizations.

A native of Hempstead, New York, Frazier is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Frazier worked alongside Experiential Education & Career Services staff to complete the application and prepare for the interview. She is among the many students who benefit from JWU’s strategic approach to securing internships and experiential learning op-portunities for students. — Robyn Hankerson

STUDENT LANDS WHITE HOUSE INTERNSHIP

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STUDENTS AND FACULTY

PAUSED to play with some friendly,

fluffy, four-legged, tail-wagging friends

to lighten up and de-stress during

fall term finals. Certified therapy dogs

Nestor, Lemon and Molly visited

the Denver Campus for a Paws for

a Cause event with Therapy Dogs

International.

“We’re sponsoring this event to

help ease the stress on students with

exams at the end of the term. Dogs

are proven to help with stress relief on

many levels,” said Student Govern-

ment Association (SGA) First-Year

Senator Madison Reed, who helped

organize the event that was spon-

sored by the SGA. “Playing with and

petting dogs produces the stress-re-

lieving hormone oxytocin and lowers

levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.”

According to Therapy Dogs

International, the benefits of spending

time with canine companions are

numerous: reduced blood pressure

and anxiety, increased alertness and

socialization, and positive mood alter-

ations, among other positives.

According to Sarah Hellwig ’19,

“They’re comforting because they

remind me of home.”

Unconditional love when you are

stressed out and away from home —

who couldn’t use some of that?

– Amy Vucci

CAMPUS NEWS

SHOPPING CART PARADE DEBUTS AT HOMECOMING & FAMILY WEEKEND

THERAPY DOGS ON CAMPUS: A NEW FINALS TRADITION

A PACKED AUDITORIUM of students, faculty and staff at-tended two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist Greg Dobbs’ guest lecture and timely discussion on “A Region in Crisis & the Media’s Role: Threats, Opportunities & the Middle East.” The event was hosted by the College of Arts & Sciences and presented by The Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL).

For 10 of his 23 years with ABC News, Dobbs was an international cor-respondent based in London and Paris and covered major news events such as the Fall of the Iron Curtain and the Iranian revolution. Dobbs shared anecdotes of his time as a journalist in the heavily censored Soviet Union, as well as his perspective on measured changes occurring in the Middle East.

“This nation is exasperated with war,” said Dobbs on the recent U.S. re-sponse to the threat of extremist groups. “Some of you in this room in your conscious years have known nothing but war.”

Following the lecture, criminal justice major Connor Guenthner ’18 moderated a discussion between the audience and Dobbs.

“He gave us a really good perspective of the issues in the Middle East,” said criminal justice major Freddie Ramierez ’18. “Often, the media can be one-sided and Dobbs’ expertise and experience is more credible.” — Holli Keyser

AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST IS GUEST LECTURER

above: Students unwind with Nestor, a certified therapy dog owned by College of Arts & Sciences professor Dave Woolever. Photo by Amy Vucci

T HE INAUGURAL SHOPPING CART PARADE was one of several new Denver Campus traditions that debuted during Homecoming & Family Weekend, culminating with a huge display of JWU spirit in front of the Wildcat statue. The parade was

headlined by Grand Marshal/Denver Campus President Robin Krakowsky ’88, ’08 Ed.D., and featured 25 shopping cart floats

that were created by student clubs, athletic teams, campus organizations and departments.

The Women’s Soccer Juniors float — decorated with a breast cancer awareness theme — was declared the best overall after garnering the

highest points from the judges: Campus Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Richard Wiscott, College of Arts & Sciences Professor Keith Bowers and Renee Petrillo ’10. — Holli Keyser

Greg Dobbs

7www.jwu.edu

IN AFGHANISTAN IN 2006, mortar rounds slammed into

Staff Sergeant Drew Hill’s helicopter. He fell out, hit the ground

20 feet below and woke up in Walter Reed Army Medical Cen-

ter in Maryland. It took 56 surgeries to repair his broken back,

neck, wrist, ankle, left knee, shoulder and thumb. A grueling

three years followed for the active Minnesota native who had

spent many hours on the ice playing hockey. His love for the

game was well known, so while sitting in a wheelchair at Wal-

ter Reed, he was asked by USA Hockey to form a team with

his fellow wounded warriors. It gave him a renewed sense of

purpose, a reason to want to leave his room each day, and the

USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program.

Fast forward to today. The 29-year-old is a sophomore in

the School of Hospitality Sports/Entertainment/Events (SEE)

Management program and — not surprisingly — captain of

the JWU Ice Hockey Club. “JWU is perfect for veterans” says

Hill ’18. “The professors want to know how we can succeed

and they take the extra time to get to know you. With the

SEE program, they’ve all been in the field and are so

knowledgeable.”

Currently a forward on the club team, it seems like

a lifetime ago that Hill learned how to play sled hockey

from a wheelchair. Today, USA Warriors Ice Hockey

operates exclusively for charitable and educational pur-

poses in conjunction with the USA Hockey Disabled Hockey

Program. –– Melinda Law Westmoreland

AS PART OF THE UNIVERSITY’S COMMITMENT to helping students achieve professional success, JWU partnered with iGrad to offer online financial literacy resources. iGrad helps students manage their money, track loan balances and offers valuable tips, videos and articles. During New Student Orientation this past summer, the Charlotte Campus introduced incoming students to iGrad and encouraged them to complete the Freshman Financial Fundamentals module prior to the semester’s start. Thanks to this new approach, 792 students registered for an iGrad account and 600 completed the module; nearly 75 percent of the incoming class. According to Sara Bos, student experience coordinator, “Students can often be intimidated by personal finances and they aren’t always knowledgeable about how the student loan process works. Utilizing the iGrad tools gives them confidence in taking control of their financial future.” — Melinda Law Westmoreland

THIS PAST FALL, THE SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY hosted the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators (ISTTE) Conference. The theme, “Contemporary Issues in Tourism and Hospitality Education,” at-tracted nearly 100 educators from 10 countries. Workshops and discus-sions ranged from wine tastings and teaching techniques to the eco-nomic impact visitors have on a city and sex trafficking.

Michael Sexton, domestic violence information & education special-ist at Mecklenburg County Women’s Commission, shared how the hos-pitality industry needs to do more to try to stop human trafficking. “All travel businesses have a role to play in opening people’s eyes and being pre-pared to react to sex trafficking,” Sexton said. “Training all levels of your team who may come face to face with a victim is vital.”

More than 30 faculty members participated in the conference, with help from students who moderated sessions, planned an awards event, prepared dinner or presented their professor’s research. According to Chair Pamela Allison, Ph.D., a previous ISTTE board member, “The attendees kept raving about our friendly faculty, the professionalism of our students, the city’s beauty and our innovative facilities.” — Melinda Law Westmoreland

THE OTHER SIDE OF TOURISMA WARRIOR ON AND OFF THE ICE

FINANCIAL LITERACY 101

above: Guest attendees from Germany and Peru at the ISTTE Conference

left to right: JWU Charlotte President Robert Mock, Ed.D. with Drew Hill ’18

8 Winter 2016

ATHLETICS

W HEN THE Johnson & Wales wrestling program opened its 2015–16 season back in October,

there was a gaping hole at the team’s practice facility in Providence.

It wasn’t a physical hole — it was a missing link from the four preceeding successful seasons, in the person of one Michael Ferinde.

The 2015 JWU Male Athlete of the Year, Ferinde’s graduation last May marked an end to a remarkable career. The 141-pounder from Nutley, New Jersey, finished eighth on the all-time wins list in Johnson & Wales’ wrestling history, but it wasn’t so much what he did but how he accomplished so much.

Longtime Wildcat Head Wrestling Coach Lonnie Morris says Ferinde was a self-made champion: “It’s not so much having people at his weight class to replace him, it’s the intangibles: his work ethic, his energy, his leadership and his commitment to the program on and off the mat that we’ll miss most.

“We have a couple of athletes that stepped right in for him, but it’s his heart, and just how badly he wanted to win — and how he hated to

Never Say Die

All-American Athlete of the Year Michael Ferinde ’15 carved a legacy on the mat. Brother Joe Ferinde ’19 hopes to continue the tradition.

BY JOHN PARENTE

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lose … he just loved to compete. People respected and looked up to him because he was a silent leader, not a rah-rah guy.”

Ferinde’s place in Wildcat wrestling history is a bit different from some of JWU’s other wrestling All-Americans, like James Gilbert ’02, Steve Martell ’08 and Tim Ruberg ’05, who rank among the program’s greats. In Morris’ words, Ferinde “wasn’t as gifted as those guys, but his work ethic and his desire to compete set him apart from those other guys. Some of those other guys were more talented, but Michael was so consistent and bought into what we were teaching him.

“We were wrestling at Long Island University,” Morris adds, recounting a 2014 match, “and this really tough kid gave Michael a high-flying move that put Ferinde right on his back. The kid had Michael down for two minutes and 30 seconds, but Michael fought like crazy to get out of a really punishing hold. Most wrestlers would have accepted a pin, but not him. He was down 5-1 and battled all the way back and eventually won the match. He was ‘never say die’ on the mat. He knew that our team was in dire straights having our captain pinned, but he battled back. That was a pretty special moment.”

Ferinde says that’s the beauty of his sport: “Wrestling is a team sport, and there’s a cumulative team aspect, but you are totally responsible for your own fate.” Ferinde completed the 2015 season with his second trip to the NCAA Division III wrestling champion-ship, where he notched his second All-American selection. His first year out of Nutley seemed like light years before: “In my fresh-man season, I was at the bottom of the food chain. There were four years of lessons to be learned before I became a captain. I was never the top dog, but, fortunately, I kept my head on straight and took advantage of every opportu-nity I got.”

Those opportunities launched a heralded four-year career. With 111 victories, Ferinde won nearly 70 percent of his matches and recorded one of the fastest wins ever by a Wildcat wrestler: a 22-second pin over an opponent from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on January 20, 2013. His fifth-place finish at the 2014 NCAA tournament preceeded an eighth-place finish at the 2015 event, good enough for that second All-American honor.

Now that he’s had time to reflect on his athletic and academic career, Ferinde, currently a graphic designer in Secaucus, New

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Jersey, says he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. “I definitely got way more than I expected from my college experience. And hopefully it will all work out for the best. My athletic career had a lot to do with what I was able to take out of Johnson & Wales.

“Anything you put your mind to can be done,” he continues. “I was able to cut out the negatives, improve where I needed to and focus on everything I needed to do to be successful on the mat. And I was pushed by my teammates … there were some tough kids behind me at my weight class.”

Like every great story, Ferinde’s has an epilogue. His younger brother, Joe, has just begun to write his own chapter in the annals of Wildcat wrestling. In his freshman year, Joe Ferinde has made his way onto the varsity mat, and earned acclaim with his ability to learn quickly and contribute to his team’s success.

Big brother is impressed. “Joe’s a tough kid, he has a good head on his shoulders and works his heart out,” says Mike. “He’s going to do some great things at JWU by the time he’s through. I look up to him and he does to me.”

“They’re two very different kids,” says Morris. “Joe’s more fiery. That whole family is so tight-knit. The grandparents show up at our

matches — the family travels in herds. He’s been raised around Johnson & Wales wrestling, so he knows what it’s all about. He actually had better credentials coming out of high school than Michael did. Joe placed twice in the New Jersey state tournament, so there are some high expectations for him. He won’t have to produce right away, but the bar’s been set high. And there’s going to be some pressure because of what Michael accomplished. Joe will have to carve out his own legacy.”

The legacy that is Wildcat wrestling astounds Morris, whose first team in 1987 was made up of only four athletes: “Back in the early years, we were just trying to build and sustain a program. Now it’s established and we’re consistently a premier program. We have an alumni base that’s started to give back and donate to support the program. It’s special, and it’s refreshing to see.”

Mike Ferinde is now comfortably ensconced as the latest chapter of that legacy.

[1] Michael Ferinde ’15 [2] Joseph Ferinde ’19 [3] Michael at the mat [4] the big win

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L-R: Marquis Cooper ’14, Benjamin Kantor ’15, Devin Rainone ’15 and Tiffany Aubee ’17

WINNING EDGE

It's a High Stakes Game when You’re Fueling Pro AthletesBY JEANNE RYAN

www.jwu.edu 11

But Billapando is careful to make sure that his focus on ingredients doesn’t block the meal’s appeal. “I learned that there’s a psychology of food. I take a healthy recipe and jazz it up with a name.”

Underpinning these chefs’ understanding of the vital role that nutrient science plays in athletic performance is their awareness that the foods most athletes like are a world away from nouveau cuisine, never mind alfalfa sprouts and tofu. “A lot of athletes like simple food,” observes Billapando. “That’s what they’re used to.”

His goal? “How can I take comfort food — some of the un-healthiest food — and make it healthy again and make it in-teresting? And make people want to eat it. How can I make players love it — and perform at a higher level?”

Billapando is well positioned to score. JWU’s culinary nu-trition program provides a carefully balanced blend of nutri-tional science and chef know-how. The brainchild of since-retired nutrition professor Suzanne Vieira, the pro-gram was launched in 1999 to bridge the widening divide between the worlds of dietetics and culinary arts. Chef Todd Seyfarth ’01, department chair at the Providence Campus, recalls Vieira’s concept: “It was brilliant in its simplicity: ‘What if we taught chefs to be nutritionists?’ ”

By that time, explains Seyfarth, nutrition education had migrated far from its roots. “It had been much more food focused. Then, dietitians started to thin out more and more of the food and bring in more and more of the science.”

While Seyfarth is happy to credit the essential role science plays — “I was definitely on the nerdy side. I loved the sci-ence aspect of cooking” — he emphasizes that nutrient knowledge alone does not make a winning recipe. “If you don’t know how to put that into a menu, it really is a worth-less thing.”

For these chefs, the secret’s not just in the sauce.The secret is also hidden in Chef Bryson Billapando’s

Power Balls.And Chef Varun Shivdasani has concealed the secret in

his tantalizing marinades.Meanwhile, if you ask Chef Simon Lusky the right ques-

tions, you’ll discover that he’s put the secret in his it’s-so-crispy-it-can’t-be-baked “fried” chicken.

These chefs ’ secret?Their dishes are actually (gasp!) gastronomically dis-

guised health food, designed to provide the professional athletes they feed with optimum nutrients to maximize per-formance and — hopefully — give their teams the winning edge.

Billapando ’12, Shivdasani ’02 and Lusky ’10 — along with other JWU culinary nutrition grads — are uniquely posi-tioned to tackle the challenge of designing health food that will be scarfed down by even the most fervent junk food junkie.

“The science is very well hidden in the food,” explains Billapando, executive chef for the United States men’s na-tional soccer team (USMNT). “It’s like feeding kids. You’re hiding the vegetables.”

Billapando joined USMNT in 2014, coming on board as the team’s first traveling chef. He immediately put his dis-tinctive mix of culinary skills and nutritional smarts to work — and not just at meal times.

Sideline snacks — so essential in soccer to keep players energized for 90 minutes of sprints up and down the pitch — needed serious attention. “Peanut butter and jelly and fruit were not working. No one wants soggy bread,” says Billapando. Cue up the Power Balls: “They’re loaded with flax seed and oatmeal; the players just eat the heck out of them.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEX WILLIAMSON

Left to right: Bryson

Billapando '12 and

Varun Shivdasani '02

Winter 201612

guys who say, ‘It’s not baked, it’s fried.’ I feel like it’s some-thing that hits home. Everybody, from all walks of life — from Georgia to Cuba — can relate.”

As far as the players in the clubhouse are concerned, they are tucking into the unadulterated lip-smacking flavors of baseball. But Lusky’s quest also focused on the underlying science and making sure that his “fried” chicken provides whole foods and the optimal ratio of macronutrients: carbo-hydrates, proteins and fats.

Indeed, a conversation with these chefs quickly veers from the recipe sheet into a text on biochemistry.

“It’s one hundred percent science,” explains Shivdasani. “When you’re dealing with sports it has to be. Then the chef kicks in.”

On the other side of the Atlantic, Shivdasani spent the last four seasons as the culinary nutri-tionist and chef for England’s Norwich City Football Club. He saw the Canaries make a trium-phant return to professional soc-cer’s elite Premier League by win-ning last May’s championship match at Wembley Stadium, in front of a near sell-out crowd of more than 85,000 fans.

“I’m not saying it’s all down to me,” cautions Shivdasani. “I can’t isolate nutrition.” Like Billapando and Lusky, he emphasizes that he is one among many on the support roster — and that he partners with trainers, medical staff and others to give the athletes every possible advantage. “The method is to get as

much data as possible, whether it’s from strength and condi-tioning, from GPS or from the athletes’ food recalls.”

To design customized support, Shivdasani pairs such in-formation with his knowledge of the roles different nutri-ents play. “If you’re a winger who’s running loads, versus a goalkeeper, your nutrition is going to be totally different.

“For a winger, I would load up their carbs quite a bit to fuel them. For the goalkeeper, their movement is explosive, and I would emphasize creatine-rich food. I would also encourage more omegas and things that are going to heighten their awareness — the botanicals, like ginkgo biloba.”

Veteran players, who may be feeling twinges of the onset of age, are the most enthusiastic about improving their nutrition — especially if it suits their tastes. Shivdasani quickly learned to calibrate his own foodie tendencies, an asset in such previous venues as high-end spas and the Mumbai edition of “The Biggest Loser,’’ with the soccer squad’s fish-and-chip palates. Early days with the Canaries, he recalls thinking: “ ‘I’m going to do a Moroccan tagine. It’s

A PIONEER IN THE FIELD The interplay between culinary arts and nutrition is what makes JWU’s program unique and sets its graduates apart. Both Seyfarth and Professor Marleen Swanson, department chair at the Denver Campus, are quick to point out that the Culinary Nutrition degree is the first in the country to pro-vide a foundation in the culinary arts and accreditation by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Swanson, a dieti-tian who also holds a Grand Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu Paris, notes that such dual expertise is sought after by em-ployers: “That’s why they love our students — they know the science and the food.”

The program has seen robust growth, with Providence’s running at capacity and Denver’s welcoming a record num-ber of off-term students entering this winter. Demand, says Swanson, is fueled by the desire for food-based approaches to pre-venting and managing disease — a need that in 2014 helped the Denver Campus snag a $100,000 grant to expand state-of-the-art lab facilities for the campus’s Center for Culinary Nutrition. “We’ve been able to add phenome-nal equipment,” says Swanson. “I did a lot of shopping last summer. It was fabulous fun.”

In addition to Billapando, Lusky and Shivdasani, Swanson and Seyfarth list a Who’s Who of grad-uates working as sports nutrition-ists across a range of settings: at universities, for the military and for professional teams, including Nick Arcuri ’14 with the Memphis Grizzlies, Adam Korzun ’03 with the Green Bay Packers, Stephen Smith ’09 with the Houston Texans and Shawn Zell ’10 with the Milwaukee Bucks. Teams now see menu offerings as supporting player performance. “They truly are seeing that it does make a dif-ference in their ability to function,” says Swanson. “And yet they still want good food.”

Culinary nutrition graduates’ combination of culinary artistry and science smarts can bring about that food alchemy.

CUSTOMIZED NUTRITION Fried chicken, says Lusky, who is starting his sixth season as team chef for the St. Louis Cardinals, is a baseball tradition. “Every third day, people were bringing in fried chicken. For a couple years, I really tried to find something.” Eventually, he hit upon a winning formula, discovering that brining, butter-milk and cornflake crumbs — racked the right way and served with sweet potato casserole — equal magic: “I’ve had

How can I take comfort food — some of the unhealthiest food — and make it healthy again and make it interesting? How can I make players love it — and perform at a higher level?

— Chef Bryson Billapando ’12

13www.jwu.edu

going to be brilliant!’ Without considering the fact that sixty percent of the team are British. They’re not going to like spicy food.”

Data from the training room, such as body composition tests, bolster players’ own reports of improved strength and energy. “ ‘My body composition has come back four to five percent lower in fat, and I haven’t changed anything!’ ” Lusky recalls one baseball player exclaiming. Nutritional improve-ments had been hidden in the player’s clubhouse favorites.

The possibility for a performance boost through food is especially powerful in the current climate. “I think that in general, in all sports now, testing is more stringent,” ob-serves Lusky. “There are really crazy products out there. You never know what you’re going to get. Honestly, it’s so much safer to eat food, and the right amounts of it.”

This acute understanding of the synergy possible through science and cuisine — and the expertise to make the most of it — is notable among all three chefs, for which they credit JWU’s culinary nutrition coursework.

DISCOVERING THEIR CALLING For Lusky, the program’s science classes brought about an epiphany: “I barely made it out of high school. I barely passed math or science.” Getting started in the university’s organic chemistry course, Lusky was worried: “The first couple weeks, I was really having a hard time. Then, the teacher started taking the core — the periodic table and bonds — and bringing it full circle to food. I went from almost failing to getting my one and only B.” His newfound understanding was a lightning bolt, and Lusky went on to earn straight As in science. “Wow! It made me almost want to go back and take that organic chemistry course again!”

For Billapando, JWU’s program offered an irresistible challenge. The seed had been planted when he visited the Denver Campus with his then-wife, who was getting ready to attend. At that time, the facilities and equipment im-pressed. “This is really cool,” he thought.

Eventually, after trying out careers in physical therapy and firefighting, he was back, this time as a student. Chef-faculty encouraged him to pursue the four-year degree: “ ‘You need to do nutrition,’ ” he recalls them saying, “ ‘because it’s hard. It’s the hardest degree here.’ ”

That incentive was a sweet carrot: “It was really hard,” says Billapando, “and it made me want to excel.” In rising to the challenge of the coursework, he discovered a natural ap-titude: “I just understood things. The food science and sports science made so much sense to me. I had a knack for it.”

At this point in their careers, the chefs speak with confi-dence of their ability to secretly embed a potent nutrient blend within delicious dishes.

“I understand how to balance things out,” notes Billapando, “which chemicals work better and taste better. I would break it down molecularly to understand it and make something

out of it. I would take recipes and deconstruct them ... and it just kind of never stops.”

Off the soccer field, Shivdasani stands poised to begin his own sports-nutrition venture, Training Table Academy, which will offer nutrition training to working chefs. Recalling the various stops along his professional pathway, he sums up, “I’m at a point where I can make something re-ally healthy taste really good. I know what works. The meth-ods are the same whether using them for spas, for “The Biggest Loser,’’ for cricket or football.”

Lusky echoes both alumni: “Now that I have a really good grasp, I can walk into a kitchen and look at a dish — and it looks like the matrix to me. I can manipulate food so it makes sense nutritionally and taste-wise.”

In addition to donning his team toque, Lusky is busy put-ting his powers to work outside the stadium, in his newly named, St. Louis-based Revel Kitchen. The company — which includes catering, a food truck, a cafe and a restaurant — was originally called Athlete Eats. But that moniker did not recognize the wider demand for tasty, healthy food. “I’m not having swarms of people in gym clothes,” Lusky quickly realized. “I’m getting regular people in here.”

It should come as no surprise, he reflects: “Athletes are the trendsetters. They drive the cool cars, wear the cool clothes, before anyone else does.” So it makes sense that they’re a bellweather for food preferences, too. And, of course, the chef is committed to satisfying that appetite: “I want people to revel in eating well. I want people to eat healthy food, and I want them to enjoy it.”

Simon Lusky '10

14 Winter 2016

he sun climbs as groomers — ranch vaqueros, cowboys from Central America — brush the horses to a salsa rhythm. They trace their hands over the glutes and legs, scanning for knots and warmth that can signal inflammation and a possible injury. They bandage the legs in polo wraps and cover the front hooves with protective bell boots. Cushioning is paramount: Most of these horses are worth six figures, with a handful valued at $500,000 and up and a few worth at least $1 million. Their home is Lionshare Farm, a 100-acre property in Greenwich, Connecticut, owned by Olympic silver medalist Peter Leone and his wife Marcella.

Most Likely to SucceedBLUE RIBBONS ARE NICE, BUT DRESSAGE CHAMPION JESSICA FOREND ’10 HAS HER EYE ON THE GOLD

BY DENISE DOWLING | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEXANDER NESBITT

“I’ve spent most of my life riding horses. The rest I’ve just wasted.” — AUTHOR UNKNOWN

www.jwu.edu

Winter 201616

Approaching Lionshare’s classic white barn with hunter green trim, it seems you’ve crossed into more than another tax bracket. The setting, which feels European, has been described as cinematic. Julia Roberts galloped across its white-railed paddocks in the 1997 thriller “Conspiracy Theory.” The driveway unfurls past a pond with a gurgling fountain and pristine swans; the property expands to 14 grass paddocks, two all-weather rings, sand trails and a cross-country field. A Grand Prix field crowns the highest point of the property, with views of

the valley and permanent natural obstacles such as banks, slides, ditches and a water jump.

Like the groomers, Jessica Forend ’10 is a foreigner here. Still, she qualifies: Raised on Martha’s Vineyard, the alumna has ridden since she was five and could pass for a model. Yet she cantered the island’s savage bluffs while peers did the show circuit. During one summer off from Johnson & Wales, the 27-year-old worked as a nanny,

assistant store manager and EMT — simultaneously.“I’m proof that you don’t have to be born into this world to

succeed,” says Forend. “The fact that I had to work harder to get here makes me prouder of what I’ve accomplished.” Forend was the only JWU student to place first in her division for three consecutive years (from 2007–10) at the Intercollegiate Dressage Association (IDA) competition —and remains the only student to do so since the IDA’s founding in 2001.

Dressage’s fundamental principles date to around 350 B.C. The tradition boasts a steady line of riding masters from the military and the famous riding schools that developed during the Baroque era. The sport is often likened to figure skating, ballet, acrobatics or gymnastics. It’s an

edge that Forend owns the frame and poise of a dancer. With hazel eyes and a Chiclets smile, standing a willowy 5’7’’ in custom-made brushed Italian leather riding boots — a Christmas gift from her employer — she commands attention without demanding it.

Dressage helps the horse and rider communicate and develop balance, strength, flexibility and accuracy. Seemingly imperceptible nonverbal cues, such as a leg squeeze or a foot tap, are a shared secret language. As with dance, there is a veil of grace: Intricate athletic maneuvers must appear effortless as gossamer. Judges check for accuracy, energy, relaxation, consistency, rhythm, tempo, balance and submission. They also consider the horse’s way of moving and carrying itself, as well as the rider’s position and use of her body; movements must be technically correct at all times. Nine progressive levels exist with multiple tests in each level. At intercollegiate competitions, in the interest of meritocracy, the name of the horse one rides is fished from a hat moments before show time. Riders are then allotted a 10-minute warm-up on the horse before a 45-second cue to enter the ring.

“When you’re getting on a new horse, you want to feel what you have underneath and see how responsive they are to the different aids — your feet, seat, legs and hands,” Forend explains. “Every horse is so different and they are trained by different people. You have to figure out how to explain the different movements in your pattern to a horse that is completely unfamiliar to you.” In 10 minutes, she had to adjust her equipment and decipher “which buttons the horse has and which ones they don’t.”

I’M PROOF THAT YOU DON’T HAVE

TO BE BORN INTO THIS WORLD TO

SUCCEED.—JESSICA FOREND ’10

Fellow earned his carrots.

17www.jwu.edu

LIFE ON THE FARMFall is a poster child for Lionshare Farm. Oak and maple trees ripen to russet and saffron; apple trees bow with fruit. For some, this is the best season for riding, as gold sun tempers brisk clean air. The morning of our visit, Forend’s alarm bleated at 5:30. She spent an hour preparing breakfast (a mixture of bran mash and oatmeal with SmartPak nutritional supplements) for the 50-plus horses. Then she mucked out the stalls, added shavings and filled their water tubs. Afterward, she groomed and exercised the four horses owned by her employer, Eliane Cordia-van Reseema. The Netherlands-born dressage champion — a 2016 Olympics contender recently ranked 22nd in the country — leases stalls at Lionshare Farm. Jewel Court Stud, the American branch of her family’s Belgian stud farm, is in Wellington, Florida. She, Forend and two other JWU-educated equestrians (barn manager Kayla Burroughs ’10 and

dressage team captain Tara Proulx ’16) have migrated south to Palm Beach County before the freeze, in time for its show season. If their young horses show well, this summer Cordia-van Reseema and Forend might bring them to the Belgian farm in hopes of qualify- ing for Europe’s Young Horse World Championships.

Despite dawn-to-dusk working hours that can stretch to seven days a week, Forend considers this her dream job. As Cordia-van Reseema’s assistant trainer, she is carving a name for herself: With the Olympics in her sightline, Forend is confident she is on the right team to achieve that goal. According to Forend, some employers are so focused on winning that mentoring an assistant is not a priority. This week, her employer even imported a horse that Forend will train for competition: “Fellow,” a six-year-old Dutch Warmblood with marble eyes, an espresso and cream coat and a case of jet lag. Forend explains his “superstar potential” as she brushes Fellow in circles with a curry comb to exorcise the dirt. Then she tucks him in before the breath of night, strapping a wool madras blanket around him.

He has “phenomenal breeding,” and certain bloodlines throw particular temperaments. “He looks like a plain Jane horse under tack, but once you start him up he has so much power — about 15 gears,” says Forend. “Personality is more important than the physical; they won’t do very well without the willpower to succeed. Fellow has a great work ethic: He always wants to be learning and is eager to please — it’s that much better when they want to be a team with you.”

YOU WANT THE HORSE TO COME TO THAT ZEN STATE WHERE THEY FEEL RELAXED BUT THEY WANT TO WORK FOR YOU.

—JESSICA FOREND ’10

The barns at Lionshare Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut

Forend, Fellow and Eliane Cordia-van Reseema

Winter 201618

As she strokes Fellow’s cheek, Forend cautions: “You have to be careful with a horse like that; an inexperienced trainer could physically and mentally break him. Some people want them to be winning all the time to make a name for themselves and so the horse will be worth more. They drill them at the shows, work them too hard and a horse can get ring sour. You want the horse to come to that Zen state

where they feel relaxed but they want to work for you.

“Eliane and I share the same training philosophy. We’re not in a rush to get the horses to a certain level by a certain date. You can have that goal in sight, but we want to build up their confidence rather than push them. An animal can be fantastic and then have an off day, which is when I think, ‘How can I get them to better understand what I’m trying to teach them?’ ”

Her ambition is to be riding Fellow at the Grand Prix (highest) level within a few years; some experts believe it takes an

experienced trainer with a talented horse at least seven years to reach that caliber. However, Fellow had already been training in Europe: Cordia-van Reseema flew Forend to Holland after personally vetting him. “When I entered the stall, he was lying down taking a nap — that’s when a horse is most vulnerable — but he didn’t get up and he let me stay in the stall,” Forend recalls. “I just fell in love — I hadn’t felt that before.”

Riding an animal of Fellow’s girth and power (he stands just over 16 hands tall and weighs nearly 1,200 pounds) is

analogous to an extreme sport. While Forend has never been seriously injured, she is intimate with the sport’s occupational hazards. In 2011, her mother, Lisa Scannell, was riding a friend’s horse that reared on its hind legs without warning, causing her to slide off and the 800-pound pony to land atop her. Her pelvis was fractured in 14 places and her sacrum was broken. Doctors predicted Scannell would never walk again; today, she does so with a cane and is determined to ride once more. “Jessica has never said, ‘Are you crazy? You can’t get back on a horse!’ ” Scannell says. “And it hasn’t created fear in her; she knows this was an extremely rare freak accident.”

Forend left an internship with a well-known trainer to care for her mother — who was bedridden for three months — and to keep Scannell’s bookkeeping business on tack (she winces at the memory of learning Quicken). Anchored by a relationship, Forend remained on Martha’s Vineyard for two years. Ultimately, she had to choose: love and a career stunted by ferry crossings or the Promised Mainland.

“If Jessica had stayed on the island, I think she would have always been wondering, ‘What if ?’ ” Scannell says. “My middle-aged friends are envious because Jessica is so passionate about what she’s doing.” She credits horses and Johnson & Wales for helping her formerly unassertive daughter to mature. “As a child, if she needed something at a restaurant, her younger sister would ask for it. She wouldn’t raise her hand in class. But on a horse, Jessica had all the confidence in the world. At Johnson & Wales, she was on so many different ones that it really brought out her natural talent and feel for the horse. She became confident all around.”

Now, when she needs anything, this Olympic hopeful has no problem speaking up.

Forend ’10 with Eliane Cordia-van Reseema on Jewel’s Adelante, a16-year-old Swedish WarmbloodGrand Prix-level gelding and 2016 Olympics contender

THE CENTER FOR EQUINE STUDIES“I DO THINK WE WILL SEE JESSICA IN THE OLYMPICS,” says JWU’s Head IDA Coach Crystal Taylor, who taught Forend when she studied equine business management. “Jessica is a cool competitor; her confidence in-stills trust and confidence in the horse. If she drew a challenging horse, she

was always positive and had a great attitude. She would work through any issue that came up, and continue riding as if every-thing was perfect.”

Scannell tutored her daughter and the other riders she instructed that prizes should not be the objective. Rather, her stu-dents set goals such as working on their diago-nals in the show ring.

“Jess would come out with six blue ribbons and say,

‘Mom, I got my lead time!’ When friends were nervous about competing with Jessica, she’d reassure them, ‘We’re not competing against each other; we’re riding together.’ If one had a tough day at the show, she’d give them her ribbon.”

At Johnson & Wales, Forend had the opportunity to compete regularly and to dedicate herself to the sport at its Center for Equine Studies in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. When the pro-gram launched in 1981, Johnson & Wales was the first college to develop a business degree in equine studies. Southern schools offered riding, but it was not integrated with a business curriculum; other schools have since followed JWU’s lead. The bachelor’s degree combines riding training with classes in physiology and genetics, nutrition, diseases, and anatomy, as well as business management. Starting this fall, equine science will be offered.

The Center’s bucolic 31 acres, adjacent to a state forest, include a

cross-country field atop three acres in the Upper Valley, with a derby-style jumping field with banks, ditches and step jumps. The farm includes a mirrored indoor riding hall with waxed footing, radiant heat, an attached 32-stall barn, pastures and turnout paddocks. There is a multipurpose jumping ring and a separate dressage ring.

The dressage team has won numerous regional and national awards and has been represented at every national championship by team members. In 2012, JWU won the National Championship; in 2013, the university was the IDA reserve (second place) national champion; last year, the IDA team placed first for its region. The university also belongs to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The IHSA team competes in hunter seat equitation throughout New England; in 2015, they were ranked second place in the region.

19www.jwu.edu

Head IDA Coach Crystal Taylor Aerial view of the Center for Equine Studies

Happy trails: JWU students in the woods of the Center

JESSICA IS A COOL COMPETITOR; HER CONFIDENCE INSTILLS TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN THE HORSE.

—CRYSTAL TAYLOR

Winter 201620

LAD IN A CRISP WHITE APRON and chef ’s hat, Eric Sharer ’08 zips around a gleaming kitchen set-ting mixing bowls, utensils and ingredients on the

island countertop. Butternut squash, cumin, paprika, chickpeas, kale — the foods and spices pile up beside the cut-ting board as Sharer consults his recipe. “We’re going to make something really fun today,” he tells his aproned co-chef, “using things you typically have on hand at home.”

The scene is straight out of a cooking demo TV spot, but there’s no studio audience, and Sharer’s 40-something co-chef isn’t a morning show host; she’s a patient enrolled in a 12-week weight-loss program at the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine in Delmar, New York, outside of Albany. Down the hall from the gourmet kitchen are acu-puncture rooms, cardio machines, an oxygen therapy cham-ber, doctors’ offices and other holistic medicine facilities. Sharer and his patient embody the growing movement of culinary medicine — a marriage of culinary art and the sci-ence of nutrition — in a clinical setting. Sharer, who earned a culinary nutrition degree from the Providence Campus, is a registered dietitian and culinary nutritionist with a spe-cialty in oncology nutrition. He provides nutritional coun-seling and cooking lessons for patients who have general wellness goals as well as more specific dietary needs related to problems such as cancer, diabetes, Lyme disease and di-gestive issues. “Patients can be very intimidated by eating,” Sharer says. “They don’t know how to eat because there’s so much information out there. Between frozen food and take-

out, they don’t realize they’re not being taught to cook.” That’s exactly the goal of the kitchen session: Sharer walks

his patient through a slew of culinary techniques that yield a healthy lunch, plenty of flavor and — hopefully — a meal that the rest of her family will enjoy as well. With hands-on in-struction, Sharer demonstrates how to use a food processor to incorporate vegetables like broccoli in a salad; how to mas-sage kale to make it more palatable; when to use olive oil ver-sus canola oil; which spices hit the right flavor notes instead of salt; what body mechanics to employ for chopping vegeta-bles effectively; and how to make a zingy dressing without the fat. It’s just one part of the patient’s weight-loss plan, but it’s important to maintain her momentum and make her health goals sustainable. The end result — a winter salad of butter-nut squash, chickpeas, roasted nuts and southwest spices with maple Dijon vinaigrette — is clearly something she’d never have considered for a meal, and she’s a little skeptical as Sharer plates their creation. “What do you think of the fla-vors?” he asks. “Is this something you’d make at home?”

She chews slowly, savoring the new tastes. “It’s really good,” she says. “I definitely would. I forgot the broccoli was even in there!”

Mission accomplished. Sharer’s culinary skills and nutri-tion knowledge complement the medical and naturopathic treatments the Stram Center offers, and it’s just one example of a movement that’s gaining momentum on a curricular level at Johnson & Wales. “Culinary medicine is applied nu-trition,” says Chef Todd Seyfarth ’01, culinary nutrition

From room-service sushi to white-aproned doctors, our food and health collaborations

offer a dose of prevention

BY JULIE DUGDALE

21www.jwu.edu

LET FOODBE THY

MEDICINE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BARRY FALLS

Winter 201622

chair at the Providence Campus. “It’s looking at evidence — a study that says ‘these foods are likely to have X result’ — and saying, ‘Here is how we create a menu that’s appropriate for your culture and social environment at a level that can hope-fully prevent or manage disease.’ ”

HEALTHCARE, NOT SICK CAREStudy after study shows that poor diet is one of the biggest risk factors in disease and early death. It follows that the worse the diet, the greater the monetary healthcare costs. So when the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 ushered in an era with a greater focus on preventative healthcare as a sweeping change in the way we view medical problems and solu-tions, food choices began to play more of a starring role in the medical world. “Culinary medi-cine is very much about preven-tative health,” Seyfarth says. “Everyone talks about how it’s not healthcare — it’s sick care. The surgeon general is talking about how healthcare costs are going to bankrupt the country. How can we fix this? You cannot get a more efficient use of money than teaching people to cook healthily. That’s the catalyst of this movement.”

And therein lies the problem, Sharer says. Who’s doing the teaching? Sure, anyone can consult a health practice about which vitamins and nutrients can help them lose weight or lower blood sugar. “But a lot of dietitians out there don’t know how to cook,” he says, and that’s important when they’re telling a patient to cut back on salt or fats. Unless they can provide an alternative way to make food taste good, healthful dietary guidelines can go unheeded. “With train-ing from Johnson & Wales, you can help make practical rec-ommendations for flavor and texture,” he says. And that’s where JWU is taking the next step to educate not just future dietitians and nutritionists, but also physicians who need to discuss food choices with their patients.

DOCTORING A MEAL IN THE JWU LABJust ask Richard Buesa, a student at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School who’s spending his Friday night in the kitchen — the classroom kitchen, that is, on the Providence Campus of Johnson & Wales. The problem, Buesa says, is that there’s very little instruction on nutrition and dietary concepts in medical school — which is why two dozen or so medical students are paired off at state-of-the-art cooking stations, whisking, chopping, blending and sear-ing ingredients to create a feast that will serve as the culmi-nation of an elective Food + Health course in partnership with JWU’s Culinary Nutrition Society. In its second year,

the pilot program invites medical students to spend five separate cooking sessions under the tute-lage of culinary students and Chef Michael Makuch ’03, M.A.T. ’05, a JWU associate professor and advisor for the nutrition society. Each week, students from the two universities bring their disci-plines together to tackle a nutri-tion problem by applying their re-spective skillsets.

Take hypertension: The medi-cal students might provide a lec-ture discussing the physiological science behind the condition, while the culinary students lead

the practical applications of creating a healthy, low-sodium meal that’s still flavorful and appealing with the addition of certain herbs and spices. Or perhaps the hypothetical chal-lenge is a child who only eats white foods: “You have to figure out a way to get him more fiber,” Makuch says. “The students can think outside the box; it’s an interesting collaboration. The major goal is to build awareness. For the medical stu-dents, it’s about increasing their culinary literacy. Just get-ting them excited about it — that can pass down to their pa-tients eventually. This is another tool to better relate to their patients and potentially improve health outcomes.”

This evening is the medical students’ first solo attempt at creating a range of dishes with ingredients purchased on a

right and opposite: Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine Program Director Chef Leah Sarris ’05 instructs students.

23www.jwu.edu

mock budget — an effort to tailor their newfound culinary knowledge to the real-world scenario of patients with lim-ited grocery finances. The result, spread banquet-style over the butcher-block and stainless-steel surfaces of the JWU kitchen, is a mélange of fresh, colorful, creative dishes such as salmon-wrapped root vegetables with herb-infused olive oil and grilled skirt steak with chimichurri salsa and cauli-flower mashed potatoes. The doctors-to-be proudly present their plates to their culinary counterparts for final evaluation of their skills and ingenuity. “We’ve been developing a more hardcore curriculum to optimize it for the medical students and make it more applicable to their workplaces,” says Kyle Stuart ’17, president of the Culinary Nutrition Society. “The confi-dence in a doctor’s voice, knowing what he or she is talking about with food, is going to be really re-assuring to a patient.”

THE ORIGINAL PILOTThe pilot program, which has also been launched at JWU’s Denver Campus with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is modeled after concepts developed in Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, in New Orleans, Louisiana. “We always partner a medical concept with the cooking,” says Goldring Program Director Chef Leah Sarris ’05, a former JWU adjunct instructor who built the Goldring curriculum from the ground up in 2012. The center aims to provide Tulane’s medical students with the culinary and nu-tritional training — nine cooking classes at three hours each — that a traditional medical education lacks. Plus, it offers free community classes to the public as well as continuing education classes to nurses, physician assistants and other health professionals. “The Affordable Care Act has helped,” Sarris says. “Physicians can do lifestyle training and have it be billable hours. Preventative medicine falls in there quite

nicely, too. Doctors are listening, and they’re excited about it. They’ve been talking about food with their patients, and that’s the outcome we’re hoping for.”

Goldring’s continuing education modules are taught par-tially by interns from JWU — part of a semester-long ex-change partnership between the two institutions that sends JWU students to Tulane’s culinary medicine center, and Tulane’s medical students to a JWU “culinary boot camp” of

sorts. It didn’t take long for JWU’s Providence Campus to realize there was another eager pool of medical students — just as badly in need of cooking skills — a heck of a lot closer than New Orleans, and the JWU-Brown Food + Health pilot program was born. Twelve Brown medical stu-dents registered for the initial elective; one year later in fall of 2015, the course couldn’t accom-modate the more than 60 medi-cal students who were interested. “There’s always been an interest in food,” Makuch says. “That con-tinues to grow in our society as food becomes more glamorized. Consumers are starting to ask more questions about food and

health in general. ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’ still holds true today. It’s a novel approach and it sounds almost too simple, but it can still be used in the tool kit. It’s very grassroots in many ways.”

As a pioneer of the concept, the Goldring Center offers a culinary medicine certification and has licensed its program to about 10 percent of the medical schools in the United States, with a dozen more in the works. “The medical school curriculum is a very hard egg to crack,” Sarris says. “A lot of medical schools were not receptive in the beginning. In the long-term, we’d like to prove that people who go through our classes are healthier and more apt to provide nutritional counseling and therapy in their practices. We have to walk the talk so patients are more likely to listen.” Back at JWU,

Eric Sharer ’08”“Patients can be

very intimidated by eating. They don’t know how to eat because there’s so much informa-tion out there.

Winter 201624

Seyfarth says there’s been some tracking of the culinary boot camp outcomes. “The doctors that have been doing the rotation at Johnson & Wales are more comfortable teaching the nutrition concepts to their patients.”

FINE DINING, HOSPITAL STYLEOn the flip side of culinary medicine’s clinical applications are the administrative aspects of integrating food science into healthcare settings, and JWU alumni are leading the charge to overhaul hospital food service programs. “I see the culinary side and the nutrition side, and how in healthcare they need to work together,” says Angelo Mojica ’95, the senior enterprise director of nutrition and food services at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “Hospital food was bad because we didn’t have a lot of money, not because we couldn’t make good food. I developed a model that both reduces expenses and increases patient satisfac-tion.” Mojica is referring to a retail room-service concept he’s introducing at the Cleveland Clinic, much like the award- winning Restaurant Delivery Program he implemented while overseeing University of North Carolina healthcare food ser-vices. He created a 20-page menu that offers items such as made-to-order chopped salads, sushi, seasoned chili-lime shrimp burritos and low-sodium chicken stir-fry.

“There is healing in food,” Mojica says, and that goes as much for providing choices and variety as it does for get-ting patients the type of nutrition that will help them re-cover — and marketing it wisely. Cancer or cystic fibrosis patients, for instance, need fat and calories — but often have no appetites. Tasteless food doesn’t help. “A supple-ment shake provides everything you need except taste,” he says. “In fact, it tastes really terrible. You’d send it up to the

patient and it would come back down. So I said, let’s change this and do a real milkshake.” The kitchen got a milkshake machine that does strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, added high-quality protein powder and a nutritional supplement, created a product logo with a hero in a cape, and called it the Super Shake. “That is culinary medicine: Feeding people what they need to heal themselves,” Mojica says. “You have to make the food good — not good for hospital food, but good for any food.”

Healthcare facilities across the country are similarly shifting their thinking to en-hance their culinary offerings. Take the world-renowned Boston Children’s Hospital, which unveiled an $11 million cafeteria overhaul this past sum-mer. With Patient Support Services Director Shawn Goldrick ’96 at the helm, Boston Children’s transformed an unin-spired retail restaurant space into an innovative hub of culinary activity with a Chef ’s Playground station that includes healthy cooking lessons, celeb-rity chef demonstrations and cooking sessions geared toward specific diseases.

At the Stram Center, Sharer knows the impact a cooking dem- onstration can have, whether it’s

at an outpatient visit, a hospital cafeteria or a JWU kitchen classroom. He’s packaged up the leftovers from the butter-nut squash dish they’ve prepared to send home with his pa-tient. It’s one of about 30 recipes she’ll receive. Sharer wishes more healthcare providers could talk their patients through specific food choices and culinary techniques. “Most doctors aren’t trained that way, but there’s a strong possibility with this pilot program of changing our health-care system with the idea of prevention,” he says of JWU’s new Food + Health collaboration. “I’m a big believer that knowledge is power.”

“Todd Seyfarth ’01”

Culinary medicine is very much about preventative health. Everyone talks about how it’s not health-care — it’s sick care. How can we fix this?

right: Culinary Nutrition Chair Todd Seyfarth ’01

25www.jwu.edu

OFF THE SHELF

SHADOW AND LIGHT (Telemachus Press)

Professor CAROL KORIS, M.F.A., chair of the College of Arts & Sciences on the North Miami Campus, delves into the pain and mystery of loss in her debut novel. Maggie Miller, who tragically lost her 8-year-old daughter and is at the precipice of losing her marriage and business, turns to photographing families at rest stops on the Florida Turnpike as a form of refuge and isolation. When by chance she takes a photo of a missing girl, Maggie plunges into obsession on her mission to find the child, further straining her marriage, business and herself — before beginning the process of forgiveness and growth.

ONLINE > bit.ly/1ToiE0J

THE MINDFUL LIBRARIAN: Connecting the Practice of Mindfulness to Librarianship

(Chandos Publishing)

This guide aims to explore mindfulness as it relates to today’s librarians, who are now more than ever expected to juggle multiple tasks and technologies while facing growing cutbacks in their field. Authored by RICHARD MONIZ JR., M.A., M.L.I.S., ED.D., director of library services at the Providence Campus; HOWARD SLUTZKY, PSY.D., associate professor of psychology at the Charlotte Campus; and JOE ESCHLEMAN, head of reference at the Providence Campus, as well as Lisa Moniz and Jo Henry, the book’s larger goal is to help improve the “joy and quality of life that librarians and library science students experience in their personal lives and jobs.” This is Moniz’s fourth book and Eschleman’s third book.

ONLINE > bit.ly/1SKJKzY

THE NEW NEW ENGLAND COOKBOOK: 125 Recipes that Celebrate the Rustic Flavors of the Northeast

(Page Street Publishing)

Providence Campus alumna, restaurateur and former “Top Chef ” contender STACY COGSWELL ’05 goes back to her roots in her latest cookbook. Guided by the seasons, Cogswell, a native Bostonian, explores old and new traditions of the Northeast — for winter, readers might encounter Braised Pork Shanks with Spinach Dumplings and Garlic Chips, or Butter Poached Lobster Rolls with Lemon Aioli for summer. Readers are treated with striking photography to accompany Cogswell’s recipes as they cook their way through an updated version of the best of New England fare.

ONLINE > amzn.to/1UrbiI5

An imprint of Elsevier • store.elsevier.com

Chandos Information Professional Series

The Mindful Librarian Richard M

oniz, Joe Eshleman, Jo H

enry, How

ard Slutzky and Lisa Moniz

The Mindful LibrarianConnecting the Practice ofMindfulness to Librarianship

Richard Moniz, Joe Eshleman, Jo Henry,Howard Slutzky and Lisa Moniz

9 780081 005552

ISBN 978-0-08-100555-2

In an academic environment of rapid change and doing more with less, librarians are increasingly challenged to manage stress, remain resilient, and take a proactive approach to complex issues that affect our profession. Our research and writing examines how mindfulness, while helpful in its own right, can be specifically applied to research, information literacy-related instruction, modern reference services, the academic liaison role, and library management in a college or university setting as well as in the K-12 setting through the role of the solo school librarian. The Mindful Librarian offers a mindful perspective for librarians, that can help them proactively deal with changes which affect all libraries and their constituencies and enhance communications with faculty, staff, and students. Mindfulness practice provides tools for better focus, greater resiliency, and reduced stress.

Dr. Richard Moniz, MA (History), MLIS, EdD has served as a Director of Library Services for Johnson & Wales University since 1997 and as an adjunct instructor for the MLIS program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro since 2006. He is the author of the textbook Practical and Effective Management of Libraries, co-author of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison, co-author of The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience and has contributed chapters for Mid-Career Library & Information Professionals: A Leadership Primer and Advances in Library Administration and Organization (2015 edition).

Joe Eshleman, MLIS served as Instruction Librarian at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC from 2008 until 2015. He is currently Head of Reference at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. He is a coauthor of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison and The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience.

Jo Henry, MPA, MLIS is the Information Services Librarian at South Piedmont Community College. In addition to other publications she is co-author of Fundamentals for the Academic Liaison and The Personal Librarian: Enhancing the Student Experience.

Lisa Moniz, MLS has 21 years of experience working as a school library media specialist in both public and independent schools and has been active in a variety of library-related organizations.

Dr. Howard Slutzky, Psy. D. has worked in a variety of clinical settings including community mental health, college counseling, and private practice. He is currently a full professor at Johnson & Wales University and also offers numerous health and wellness workshops to students on a wide variety of topics.

Key Points

· provides a greater understanding of what is meant by mindful practice and elaborates upon its application in the educational environment

· focuses on how librarians might be more mindful in specific contexts such as instruction, reference, working with faculty, or managing their library providing practical examples that can be used right away to gain greater peace and resiliency in the library workplace

· includes numerous examples of the creative ways in which contemplative practices are being inserted into school and college curriculums and the key role that librarians can play in supporting these efforts

Ink by University Authors BY RACHEL LACAILLE

26 Winter 2016

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

W HEN HOLLY ARNOLD KINNEY’S FATHER, the illustrious Denver restaurateur Sam Arnold ’04 Hon., passed away in

2006, he left a vast collection of historic rare cook-books. Kinney contacted Lori Micho, director of library services at the Denver Campus, to inquire about donating six boxes of his cookbooks, journals and handwritten recipes, with the potential to do-nate several thousand more in the future. “There is something special about holding an original book,” says Kinney. “I want future generations of chefs to know and value food history. My father had a favor-ite saying: ‘If you want to be ahead of a food trend, just go back and see what they were eating in the 1700’s.’ Nose to tail, farm to table, paleo diets, sus-tainable production — it’s all a revival of past prac-tices, and these are the things that made him pas-sionate about sharing the foods of the Early West.”

Arnold, an English major at Yale University, moved to Denver with his first wife: Betty, a Southern Belle and direct descendent of Hugh Lawson, one of the original trustees of the University of Georgia. They wanted to build an adobe “castle” (based on Bent’s Fort) as their home. The house required 80,000 handmade adobe bricks and was filled with pottery, carvings and other furnishings by native

artisans. “They ran out of money to complete the home, so the bank instructed them to open a busi-ness on the first floor in order to get a new mortgage that would allow them to finish the building,” says Kinney.

Embracing his role as an accidental restaurateur, Arnold wanted The Fort Restaurant to illustrate the culinary heritage of the American West. Arnold studied with James Beard, entertained Julia Child, Michael Jackson and President Bill Clinton, and was highlighted in many publications and television programs. Among the dishes that remain on the menu since its opening is a fiery concoction called Trader’s Whiskey, made with hot red peppers, ciga-rette tobacco, corn whiskey and a pinch of old-fash-ioned gunpowder.

Kinney now serves as sole proprietress of The Fort and founder of the Tesoro Cultural Center, a venue for teaching Southwestern cultural history. Both ventures are a labor of love to continue her fa-ther’s legacy of preserving historic cuisine and in-troducing new generations to the treasures found in old recipes. “Remember that cooking isn’t a science,” said Arnold. “It’s an art that comes from a familiarity with the characteristics of your ingredients com-bined with your own creative touch. Recipes are only like roadmaps … how you travel and where you end up depends on you. Good luck.” — Kara Johnston

DENVER CAMPUS LIBRARY RECEIVES COOKBOOK COLLECTION

JWU CHARLOTTE’S CENTER for Free Market Studies is expanding its event pro-gramming and student activities thanks to a recent $170,000 grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. The center was established in the fall of 2013 with a grant from the Michael and Andrea Leven Foundation and is under the direction of Adam Smith, Ph.D., Charlotte Campus associate professor of economics. The purpose of the center is to engage students and the larger community in

the study of markets, political economy and free enterprise. This is accomplished through a number of activities including sponsoring guest speaker events, student conference participation, faculty/student research collaboration and academic student scholarships. This newest grant will be used to enhance existing student-centered programs, provide new opportunities for research on the Charlotte economy with specific reference to the food service and hospitality industries, and market the center’s activities which will raise the university’s and the center’s profile throughout the community. Smith is “delighted to see such a generous show of support for what we are doing on the Charlotte Campus. This grant will help us continue providing students with a dynamic exploration of free-market ideas and the role and impact of market-based institutions.” —Darlena Goodwin

CHARLES KOCH FOUNDATION SUPPORTS CHARLOTTE’S CENTER FOR FREE MARKET STUDIES

Adam Smith

above: The Fort Restaurant, in Morrison, Colorado right: Holly Arnold Kinney

27www.jwu.edu

BUSINESSMAN KURT O. WALTERS ’00 WANTS JWU STUDENTS TO SUCCEED

THIS FALL, KURT O. WALTERS ’00 established a scholarship in his name for undergraduates in business and fi-nance. “Giving back to the university required little thought on my part,” he

notes about initiating the Kurt O. Walters ’00 Scholarship. “My student and professional life bene-fited from the nurturing faculty, the administrative staff ’s guidance and, most of all, from the university’s financial assistance through scholarships. I simply cannot thank the university enough!”

And we are grateful to Walters and the example he sets for undergraduates and alumni, as a diligent student and active alumni volunteer and donor. Walters credits his accomplishments in business to the foundation of educational and professional develop-ment opportunities he was fortunate to have at Johnson & Wales University and beyond. With this scholarship, he wants to ensure that other students have the same chance he enjoyed during his undergrad-uate days to reap the many rewards of a JWU education and capture every chance to reach their potential.

Walters notes that success began with a thoughtful approach to his career. Majoring in financial services management at the university, he

took advantage of experiential opportunities that would differentiate him in a highly competitive job market. These included study abroad in Europe during the implementation of the Euro and an accel-erated college co-op program at one of the nation’s leading financial institutions. He enjoyed the men-torship of top professionals in various financial disci-plines; the lessons he learned have helped him throughout his career.

After graduating summa cum laude, Walters continued his pursuit of lifelong learning with grad-uate studies in entrepreneurship and accounting at

the Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, where he participated in the Lucent Financial Leadership Develop-ment Program. He built on these educational opportunities by seeking positions that offered diverse experiences to further his education.

Today, Walters is president of Nisga’a Data Systems, as well as a strategic advisor to other organizations in several different industries. His intentional approach to business leadership and commitment to learning have been integral to the company’s success, including recognition by Inc. magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in America. — Bonnie Duncan

HAZEM GAMAL ’90 graduated from the Providence Campus with a degree in Hospitality Management. For the past 25 years, he has made a career in

financial and investment services and is cur-rently vice president for sales and technology with Oppenheimer Funds in New York City. He’s a busy man, but he can’t seem to stay away from his alma mater.

Hazem has enjoyed attending alumni programs in New York City and New Jersey, where he makes a point of speaking with young alumni about their career aspirations and offering mentoring advice. Last spring, he served as a volunteer and a mentor during the Alumni Leaders Week for the School of Hospitality and stayed on campus to attend the All-Class Reunion.

In March 2015, John Varlaro, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Management in the School of Business, reached out to colleagues across the campus to identify participants in a review

of the International Business academic program. Members of the Alumni Relations staff recom-mended Hazem. Varlaro says Hazem was “ideal for the job, with his knowledge of the field and his ex-tensive international experience.” The review in-cluded interviews with faculty, students and alumni to reflect on strengths and opportunities to improve the program. According to Eileen DeMagistris, Ed.D., director of institutional effec-tiveness, “The review was critical for the future of our program and having Hazem’s input and leader-

ship in the project gave us the kind of industry insight we need to provide a global

education.” Hazem is modest about his time spent

with the university: “Every graduate will be affiliated with JWU for his or her lifetime. Investing my time and experi-ences with the university today is prob-ably more rewarding for me and benefi-

cial to the student body than any of my financial contributions.” In addition to all

his service to the university, at the All-Class Reunion he became

a donor to the JWU Fund.— Julia S. Emlen and

Lori Zabatta ’95

HAZEM GAMAL ’90: VOLUNTEER AND JWU FUND DONOR, TOOA BEQUEST BECOMES A SCHOLARSHIP

GARY E. CIUCA, ’04 who gradu-ated from the North Miami Campus, passed away in 2011. As part of his estate, he bequeathed $50,000 to the university. Bruce Ozga, dean of culinary arts on the North Miami Campus, announced that his gift will be used to establish the Gary E. Ciuca ’04 Memorial Scholarship, to support students enrolled in culinary arts on the North Miami Campus. Ciuca was a graduate of the University of Maryland and had a long and successful career as a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services, Wachovia Securities and Wells Fargo Advisors. He lived and worked in Coconut Grove, Florida, and upon his retirement, he attended Johnson & Wales University. Ozga, who knew Ciuca during his studies at JWU, re-members him as someone who “loved cooking, food festivals, opera and the arts. It’s a fitting tribute to Gary to have him remembered here through this endowed scholarship.”— Louise Olson

Hazem Gamal ’90

Kurt O. Walters ’00

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28 Winter 2016

PVD Eighth Annual Athletic Homecoming Alumni athletes were invited back to campus to help JWU celebrate 20 years of athletics on the Providence Campus with the players and coaches who made it happen.

ALUMNINEWS

Providence Holiday PartyFaculty and local alumni spanning seven decades (including a 1948 graduate) celebrated the holiday season and JWU’s rich history in style at local hot spot Waterman Grille.

Carolina Panthers GameCharlotte alumni attended JWU’s fifth Annual Carolina Panthers Tailgate with Charlotte staff and faculty.

Charlotte HomecomingAlumni came from all over to celebrate a great new tradition at JWU’s Charlotte Campus Homecoming. Events included a parade, barbecue and alumni vs. staff basketball game.

Charlotte Holiday EventLocal alumni celebrated the holiday season and met the new Charlotte Campus president, Robert C. Mock Jr., Ed.D. To welcome him, the space was transformed into a winter wonderland complete with snow.

29www.jwu.edu

North Miami HomecomingAlumni from many campuses attended the Annual Homecoming on JWU’s North Miami Campus. Weekend activities included alumni basketball games, a student tailgate party, a food and wine demonstration and a Homecoming Reception honoring the new North Miami Campus president, Larry Rice, Ed.D. ,’90.

Denver HomecomingJWU Denver’s first Homecoming Weekend was full of fun and exciting activities for alumni, including receptions, a chili cookoff and the Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Denver Cheer Denver alumni, staff and faculty rung in the holidays with JWU’s Glitz, Glam & Gatsby themed holiday party, held in the newly-renovated Centennial Hall (formerly named Treat Hall).

30 Winter 2016

CLASSNOTES1976STEPHEN ROWE PVDNORTH ATTLEBORO, MASS.

Stephen is the executive chef with Lafayette House in Foxborough.

1978ANDREA MCVETY PVDWARWICK, R.I.

Andrea is a medical assistant for West Bay Orthopedic in Warwick.

1979KENNETH BOLDUC PVDNEW PORT RICHEY, FLA.

Kenneth is the food service manager and executive chef at Morton Plant Mease Healthcare in Clearwater.

1984DJ DONNELLY PVDSENECA, S.C.

DJ is CEO of Triumph Donnelly Studios (TDS).

1985RONALD COOKSEY NORCOLVILLE, WASH.

Ronald received his bachelor’s degree in Business Organizational Leadership from Brandman University and has been accepted to the master’s program in Organizational Leadership.

PVD ProvidenceNMI North MiamiDEN DenverCLT CharlotteCHS CharlestonNOR NorfolkVAIL Vail International

1985RUSSELL KICE PVDBUCK HILL FALLS, PA.

Russell was appointed associa-tion board president at the 24th Annual Conference of Convention Sales Professionals International. Russell previously served on the board as first vice president and as a member director and has been active in CSPI (formerly ACME) since 2002. His goal is to energize the organization while focusing on the members and the current needs of the industry.

ERIK RAVENNA PVDLAND O’ LAKES, FLA.

Erik is the director of purchasing at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.

1987THEODORE FALTUS PVDCUMBERLAND, R.I.

Theodore is now a controller at Ashaway Line & Twine Inc. in Ashaway.

1988MATTHEW BIBEAULT PVDWOONSOCKET, R.I.

Matthew is the sales and marketing manager at Rhode Island Solar Solutions.

KEVIN DOHERTY PVDBOSTON, MASS.

Kevin is the regional executive for Delaware North Company Pro Chef III, CP-FS.

RICHARD LINDHOLM PVDWARWICK, R.I.

Richard is a sales manager at Mobile Beacon in Johnston.

SCOTT PAUL PVDHUNTERSVILLE, N.C.

Scott is the regional sales manager/chef for Belgioioso Cheese Inc., located in Huntersville.

1989JAMIE HARTLEY-ARNOLD PVDPORT ROYAL, PA.

Jamie works with hospice patients in the evenings and is in her 14th year of working in special education for a school.

1990JOSEPH ROWLAND PVDCONCORD, N.C.

Joey is a restaurant operations consultant for US Foods, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

CARLO SLAUGHTER PVDCOVENTRY, R.I.

Carlo is the owner of Bistro 22 in Garden City Center, Cranston.

1992CHRISTOPHER AVTGES PVDELLINGTON, CONN.

Christopher has accepted a position with ARAMARK as the chef/director at The Taft School in Watertown.

DENNIS TRANTHAM CHSCANTON, N.C.

Denny is a division chef and culinary consultant for US Foods in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

1992LUCAS ZOUMAS PVDLAKEWOOD, COLO.

Lucas has been the director of dining at JWU Denver for two years, leading his team in making great strides in dining and catering services on campus. He left his post in January to pursue an opportunity in Belize selling homes for Orchid Bay Belize, a Denver-based real estate company.

1993ERIC CHURCHILL PVDCRANSTON, R.I.

Eric was recently named Hotelier of the Year by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

[1] KARL GUGGENMOS ’02 MBA CHSCRANSTON, R.I.

Karl was recently named Education Ambassador of the Year by the Rhode Island Hospitalty Association.

1994PATRICK MEACHAM ’98 MBA PVDEAST GREENWICH, R.I.

Patrick is now the senior vice president at Starkweather and Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc.

BRETT ORLANDO DENWESTON, FLA.

Brett recently received the HSMAI / South Florida Chapter’s General Manager of the Year award. He works at the Thompson Miami Beach Hotel.

1995TODD COSTIN PVDCLEVELAND, OHIO

Todd is the general manager of the Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade.

1

31www.jwu.edu

PAUL SOTTILE PVDAPEX, N.C.

Paul earned his Certified Executive Chef (CEC) credential with the American Culinary Federation (ACF) and was selected in fall 2015 as Chef Educator of the Year by the ACF North Carolina Chapter. He was also nominated for the 2015 Academic Employee of the Year at Harrison College.

1996LATANYA ARNOLD PVDJAMAICA PLAIN, MASS.

LaTanya is a principal at Lend A Hand Marketing & Consulting in Boston.

RAHMAN HARPER NORWOODBRIDGE, VA.

Rahman (“Rock”) is the president of Rocksolid Creative Food Group in Woodbridge.

LOUIS YUHASZ CHSSULLIVANS ISLAND, S.C.

Louis is a culinary recruiter with Introductions Agency in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1997MIKE DICKERSBACH CHSYARDLEY, PA.

Mike is now chief technology officer for Highgate Hotels.

DAVID KLINGEL CHSCHARLOTTE, N.C.

David is the owner of Event Professor, an events consulting firm located in Charlotte.

MICHAEL WASLE CHSRALEIGH, N.C.

Michael is an account manager with American Fidelity Assurance, servicing 50 auto dealerships across the state.

TREY WILSON CHSCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Trey is the owner and executive chef of Customshop in Charlotte.

1998JOHN CAPRARO PVDLINCOLN, R.I.

John is a senior buyer for Smith-Nephew in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

CASSANDRA CLIFFORD PVDMERRIFIELD, VA.

Cassandra is the executive director and founder of the Bridge to Freedom Foundation based in Merrifield.

JEREMY EWING-CHOW PVDEAST GREENWICH, R.I.

Jeremy is executive chef of Red Stripe Restaurants in Providence and East Greenwich.

JAMIE FINKELSTEIN ’00 M.A.T., ’05 MBA PVDCHEPACHET, R.I.

Jamie was recently named Teacher of the Year by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

RILEY SANDERS PVDSOMERSET, MASS.

Riley is the owner of Bristol BEVINCO, a subsidiary of Sculpture Hospitality, which provides beverage audit services for bars, nightclubs and restaurants.

1999JAIME MAGNANTI PVDMINT HILL, N.C.

Jaime is the director of sales and marketing for Aloft Charlotte hotel in Charlotte.

2000JENIFER WEST DANIELS PVDCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Jenifer recently launched Colorstock, a digital library featuring stock images of people of color.

ANDARRIO JOHNSON CHSCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Andarrio is the owner of Cuzzo’s Cuisine Truck in Charlotte.

ANDREW POLIQUIN NMICLEARWATER, FLA.

Andrew is the executive chef at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

THEODORE SAMMONS PVDMIDDLETOWN, DEL.

Ted became a certified alcohol and drug addiction counselor (CADC). He is currently interning as a DUI evaluator with SODAT Delaware and is employed full time as a vocational counselor with First State Employment Services in Wilmington.

YOGESH SHARMA MBA PVD WEBSTER, MASS.

Yogesh is a general manager for Sodexo Inc. at EMC in Southborough.

KURT STRAUSS PVDYARDLEY, PA.

Kurt was recently appointed vice president of support services with New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is tasked with leading the strategic and operational planning for customer-and patient-focused support services. Areas of responsibility include all hospitals located on Columbia University campuses: the Columbia University Medical Center, the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, the Sloane Hospital for Women as well as the Allen Hospital and The Spine Hospital located in northern Manhattan.

MATTHEW WARSCHAW PVDSPRINGFIELD, VA.

Matthew has left Hyatt Hotels after 15 years and opened his own catering company, Pure Perfection Catering. He serves as the executive chef and owner, catering events in the Northern Virginia metro area.

1994TIDTI TIDTICHUMRERNPORN M.S. PVD CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

Tidti has been appointed assistant president for research & academic services affairs at Payap University, Chiang Mai. It is the first private university in Thailand and he has been teaching in the Hotel & Tourism Management program since 1990.

2007ZAFER BILGE NMI ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Zafer is an operations develop-ment manager at Dogus Group, headquartered in Istanbul.

2011[2] FREDRICO JOHNSON NMI PROVINCIALES, TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS

Frederico is the district commis-sioner for the island of Middle Caicos.

ALUMNI OVERSEAS

2

CLASSNOTES

32 Winter 2016

2001SHADEL HAMILTON NMITAMPA, FLA.

Shadel is the assistant vice president of student services at Saint Leo University.

AMANDA LONG NMINASHVILLE, TENN.

Amanda works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

RYAN LONG NMIOCALA, FLA.

Ryan is the director of dining services at Brookdale Pinecastle in Ocala.

RYAN SPENCE PVDWINDERMERE, FLA.

Ryan is the general manager at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, part of the Tavistock Group in Orlando.

RAYMOND WEBB NMIDADE CITY, FLA.

Raymond is a teacher at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel.

2002MARVIN BAHR ’06 MBA PVDCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Marvin is a regional brand development manager for Radeberger Gruppe, USA.

JESSICA COOPER NMITAMPA, FLA

Jessica is a teacher at Land O’ Lakes High School.

JULIA GIBSON PVDSUCCASUNNA, N.J.

Julia is human resources manager at Family First Life in West Orange.

SHANE MAACK PVDSOMERSET, N.J.

Shane is a product development scientist and research & development manager with Dove Chocolate Discoveries, a direct sales division of Mars Chocolate, North America.

2003CHARLES GOFFE PVDHAMDEN, CONN.

Charles is an electrical engineer at AI Engineers Inc.

KAMELA GOFFE ’05 MBA PVDHAMDEN, CONN.

Kamela is a staff accountant with Murtha Cullina LLP in Hartford.

[3] ALINA MURNIEKS PVDNORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.

Alina (Danielle) is an account executive for Displays Unlimited, a Party Reflections company in Charleston.

SUSAN PRATT PVDDOUGLAS, MASS.

Susan is director of marketing and operations at Blackstone Valley Wealth Management in Hopkinton as well as a consultant for Arbonne International.

ROBERT SISCA PVDCRANSTON, R.I.

Robert is the corporate executive chef at the Providence G in Providence.

2004KYLE CABRAL PVDSWANSEA, MASS.

Kyle is a personal chef and owner of Kyle’s Catering in Swansea.

SUGAR EVANS CHSDURHAM, N.C.

Sugar was promoted to general manager at Bojangles in Durham.

[4] CAMERON GRANT DENNORTHFIELD, ILL.

One might not expect a native of Scotland to be making his living as the executive chef and owner of an Italian restaurant in Chicago, but Cameron is doing just that. He and business partner Aldo Zaninotto opened Osteria Langhe in 2014 and have already received great buzz for their menu, which focuses on the cuisine of Italy’s Piedmont region. Osteria Langhe describes itself as a “fast fusion of slow food and fine wine” and is quickly becoming a mainstay in the Logan Square neighborhood. After receiving his A.S. degree in Culinary Arts from JWU Denver, Chef Grant’s time as executive chef at Laudisio, a family-run Italian restaurant in Boulder, Colorado, led to a three-month stage at the Michelin-starred La Ciau del Tornavento in Treiso, Italy, where his love for the culture and food of the Piedmont grew. Since his stage at La Ciau, his accomplishments include opening his own restaurant in Treiso and serving as chef de cuisine at the Intercontinental Hotel’s signature Mediterranean restaurant, Fresco 21, in Rosemont.

[5] PHILLIP LANDGRAF DENCHARLOTTE, N.C.

After Philip experienced a food service facility design class at JWU Denver, he knew that he wanted to expand his culinary expertise into design and consulting. Now Phillip is a principal at Ricca Design Studios where he manages seven

employees, covering East Coast projects. Phillip has recently moved with Ricca Design from the greater Denver area to Charlotte. He works with all types of venues as restaurants, from college and university dining facilities to stadium concessions, hospitals and prisons. Ricca Design Studio’s client list includes most major hotel chains such as Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons as well as Coca-Cola headquarters, Dodger Stadium, Dallas Cowboy Stadium and hundreds of universities.

ANIEDRA NICHOLS DENDENVER, COLO.

Aniedra is the executive chef at Elway’s in Cherry Creek. Her Braised Beef Cheeks with Horseradish Gnocchi, Wilted Swiss Chard and Pomegranate Reduction was selected as one of the James Beard Editors’ Favorite Dishes of 2015, and Aniedra was named as one of Colorado’s elite tastemakers by the James Beard Foundation.

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33www.jwu.edu

ALLEN PERRY NMIHOLLYWOOD, FLA.

Allen recently published two books. The first, called “Purpose Starter,” is about finding your life’s purpose. It was published in December 2015. The second book, “No! Mr. Bossy!” is a children’s book that teaches kids to find courage and empowers them to fight bullying.

JERMAINE RICHARDSON NORCOLUMBUS, OHIO

Jermaine is a product sales manager for Manitowoc in Cleveland.

TRAVIS TESKA DENWAUSAU, WIS.

Travis was recently hired to initiate and teach at a new culinary arts program at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau.

2005GARY HATFIELD PVDNORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I.

Gary was recently named one of the “Stars of the Industry” by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

[6] DANIEL LASIY PVDDENVER, COLO.

Dan is the chef and owner of Rebel Restaurant, which opened in July in Denver’s popular RiNo neighborhood.

2006[7] ANTHONY CAPOZZOLI PVDASTORIA, N.Y.

Anthony is the strategic project manager and executive safety director of Restaurant Associates in New York City. In October 2015, Anthony received the 2015 Compass Group Be-A-Star Award for outstanding performance. The award is given to only 100 associates each year out of a

group of more than 200,000 associates worldwide.

TOVA SCHERZER DENAURORA, COLO.

Tova is the senior product manager for Business Intelligence and Project Services at Staples.

JORGE RAMOS NMIHIALEAH, FLA.

Jorge is the executive chef at the new Conrad Fort Lauderdale, slated to open this summer.

NATHALIE THOMAS NMITEMPLE TERRACE, FLA.

Nathalie is a culinary instructor at Tampa Bay Technical High School.

2007JENNY CHAN-REMKA ED.D. PVDCRANSTON, R.I.

Jenny is the assistant superinten-dent of the Woonsocket School Department.

ANNA DUVAL NMITAMPA, FLA.

Anna is the manager of student nutrition services at Hillsborough County Public Schools in Temple Terrace.

RENEE GAUTHIER PVDSPRING HILL, FLA.

Renee is the food and beverage supervisor at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel.

CHRISTINA MERCADO ’10 MBA PVDNEWPORT, R.I.

Christina is executive pastry chef at Castle Hill Inn in Newport.

MICHAEL ROSS DENDENVER, COLO.

Mike is the supply chain buyer for Red Robin.

2008SARAH BUCHANAN PVDATTLEBORO, MASS.

Sarah is a brand specialist for Wine Group Inc., based in Livermore, California.

JOHNATHON BYE CLTCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Johnathon is co-owner of Fit Bye Pharr in Charlotte.

DEBBI-JO HORTON MBA PVDRIVERSIDE, R.I.

Debbi-Jo is a brand partner for Nerium International.

MARGARET JONES DENGREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO.

Maggie is the restaurant general manager at Hotel Teatro in downtown Denver.

MELANIE KAMME PVDBABYLON, N.Y.

Melanie has accepted a job with Aramark as division manager of premium services at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.

LUCY KELLIHER MBA PVDMANSFIELD, MASS.

Lucy is a senior benefits administrator at the Tenor Apex Company in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

JAMAR PHARR CLTCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Jamar is co-owner of Fit Bye Pharr in Charlotte.

STEVEN QUEEN NMIDADE CITY, FLA.

Steven is the chef and owner at Kafe Kokopelli in Dade City.

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34 Winter 2016

running, and she gets to teach kids and their grownups all about healthy cooking and eating habits.

THACH TRAN DENDENVER, COLO.

Thach is the culinary director at the newest location of Platform T, a tea lounge located in Denver’s Baker neighborhood.

2011CORYNNE LEBLANC PVDQUINCY, MASS.

Corynne is a food service management specialist for Compass Group.

CHRISTINA MANIPON PVDQUINCY, MASS.

Christina is an executive chef at Newbridge On The Charles in Quincy.

LOGAN MCCOY ’13 MBARICHMOND, VA.

Logan has accepted a position as director of culinary and business manager at KOR Food Innovation in Richmond.

NATHAN PENHA PVDTAMPA, FLA.

Nathan is a financial planner for Edward Jones in Tampa.

MICHAEL WATSON CLTCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Michael is the executive chef at Libations, located in the DoubleTree by Hilton in Charlotte.

2012[10] JESSICA CALLAN DENFOUNTAIN, COLO.

Jessica is the assistant concierge manager at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. She was recently recognized as Emerging Leader of the Year at the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association’s 2015 Stars of the Industry luncheon and conference.

and retention. Developed after a summer spent researching economics at the University of Oxford, this position will serve as a tool to inspire and promote economic growth.

PASCHA BELNAVIS CLTCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Pascha is a talent acquisition recruiter for Compass Group, North America.

ANDREW FINN PVDLEWISTON, MAINE

Andrew recently earned an MBA from Northeastern University and is now an account executive and executive director at McKenna Management Inc., in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

KA-MAN FUNG DENAURORA, COLO.

Ka-man was recently promoted to human resources and accounting coordinator at the Renaissance Denver Hotel.

[9] RENEE PETRILLO DENDENVER, COLO.

Renee received the Young Alumni Award during homecoming weekend on October 17, 2015. Now that renovations at the Children’s Museum of Denver are complete, the kitchen she helped design in her role as teaching kitchen coordinator is up and

started a blog called My Stiletto Life & Lipstick Rules, a how-to-guide that speaks to the girl transitioning from college life to the career world.

ANTHONY ROBERTS NMIDAYTONA BEACH, FLA.

Anthony is a social media specialist for John Snow Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia.

AMY SAMAHA PVDBOSTON, MASS.

Amy is executive vice president and accessories showcase director at StyleWeek North East in Providence, Rhode Island.

2010LEVI BARNETT DENFORT WORTH, TEXAS

Levi (Seth) has developed and accepted the new position of diversity development and engagement manager for the Promotional Products Association International. In this role, Levi will seek to help businesses better prepare for the present genera-tional shift occurring in the workforce and through the global consumer market. He will be helping those in the younger generation become the leaders of tomorrow that companies seek. He will also be educating businesses about the need to solidify channels of recruitment

JULIE SPILLER CLTNORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.

Julie is the dining room manager for Charleston Grill in Charleston.

[8] AUTUMN STERLING CLTCHARLOTTE, N.C.

Autumn is a staffing manager with Robert Half in Charlotte.

KRISTOFER STEWART DENCRAWFORD, COLO.

Kristofer was recently promoted to the position of investigator at the Delta County Sheriff’s Office in Delta.

ZULEIKA VARGAS PVDPROVIDENCE, R.I.

Zuleika is the executive chef at Flik Lifestyles.

2009RYAN JUDGE DENPOUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.

Ryan has published his first book,”Getting Students Seasoned: An Educator’s Guide to Teaching Students of All Ages to Cook and Maintaining Your Professional Shelf-Life.”

WHITNEY KIDD NMICORAL SPRINGS, FLA.

Whitney is an account executive at New River Communications in Fort Lauderdale. It is a full-service ad agency dedicated to nonprofit organizations. She has also

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Autumn Sterling (right) at the Charlotte Campus career carnival

35www.jwu.edu

CARLY FISCHER ’13 MBA PVDWARWICK, R.I.

Carly was recently named one of the “Stars of the Industry” by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association.

PAUL FULMER CLTSPOTSYLVANIA, VA.

Paul is the head distiller of Dark Corner Distillery in Greenville, South Carolina.

[11] JONATHAN KASPER PVDWHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.

Jonathan is working at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedmin-ster and the family has started their own hot sauce company (whitehousesauce.com).

SARA LEHMAN PVDFREEHOLD, N.J.

Sarah is a private chef and sommelier in New York City and the owner of Somm In The City (somminthecity.com).

EL MAATI SALMOUNI MBA PVDBOSTON, MASS.

El Maati is a general manager with Bruegger’s Enterprises.

CHRISTOPHER DELPRETE NMIHIGHLAND BEACH, FLA.

Christopher and Rand Carswell ’12 have opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant, Press Gourmet Sandwiches, in Fort Lauderdale. Chris says, “Over the past three years, we’ve built a loyal following of foodies in South Florida, and we’re looking forward to providing a permanent home for our gourmet chef-inspired sandwiches.”

THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE whose dedication to Johnson & Wales University is an inspira-tion to the community. Michael Grossi “never missed a JWU Commencement in 25 years” re-calls his good friend and fellow council member, JWU trustee Clay Snyder ’93, ’15 Hon.

Grossi, who passed away on January 24, 2016, began his JWU career in 1991. As a student, Grossi spearheaded the chapter forma-tion of the fraternity, Tau Epsilon Phi, Omega Alpha Chapter. After graduating in 1995 with his bache-lor’s degree, he continued on with Johnson & Wales, receiving his M.A.T in Business Education in 1999, and then completed another bachelor’s degree in Financial Services Management in 2001. Grossi also married fellow alumna Diane Mannolini ’90, ’99 M.S., who passed away in 2014. The couple is survived by their two children, Marissa and Matthew.

His love for the university continued beyond graduation. Since 2012, Grossi served as an adjunct faculty member. His courses ranged from real estate to fundamentals of estate planning; his presentation of real-world scenarios was among the many reasons his classes were so popular.

After a successful career with MassMutual as a financial advisor, Grossi became an agency sales manager in MassMutual’s Providence agency in May 2003. Grossi received various industry awards in the financial services industry including being a member of the Million Dollar Round Table, the premier association of financial professionals. In 2004, Grossi transitioned from MassMutual to Guardian Life Insurance, where he worked as a financial advisor and career development supervisor.

A Rhode Island native, Grossi also served in various leadership roles for community organizations: As board of director for the Rhode Island Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, president of the Greater Providence Kiwanis Club, as well as serving on the School Improvement Team at Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence. From 1992–2001 he was also vice president of Symphony Limousine, a family-owned business.

From 2004–07, as the vice president and then president of the Alumni Council, Grossi was determined to increase visibility and promote alumni awareness for the Johnson & Wales University Alumni Association. In addition to championing the Alumni Council Scholarship Fund, he was the council’s largest donor.

OBITUARY

MICHAEL GROSSI ’95, ’99 M.A.T., ’01

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Jessica Callan (right) and Alex Brady, manager of alumni relations at the Denver Campus

Clay Snyder ’93, ’15 Hon., left, and Michael Grossi ’95, ’99 M.A.T., ’01

CLASSNOTES

36 Winter 2016

[12] ASHLEY STOUT CLTGREENSBORO, N.C.

Ashley is the catering manager for the Holiday Inn Charlotte Airport in Charlotte.

2013ALEXANDER DEL VALLE DENHENDERSON, COLO.

Alexander has opened a new bakery named Cinna Box, which specializes in cinnamon rolls, in Northglenn. The bakery is seeking employees and interns; if interested, email résumés to Cinna.bx@gmail.com.

CARLOS DORADO SANCHEZ NMI MIAMI BEACH, FLA.

Carlos is the chef and owner of The Lunchbox, in the Wynwood section of Miami, which opened its doors in May 2015. The restaurant is zero waste and focuses on local organic ingredients.

SAMANTHA KLATT DENDENVER, COLO.

Samantha is a marketing assistant at Cherry Creek Mortgage Co.

HAGEN KNOSHER PVDBETHESDA, MD.

Hagen is the assistant food & beverage manager at the Bethesda Country Club in Bethesda.

THADDEUS KORNEGAY NMIWINTER GARDEN, FLA.

Thaddeus is working full time for Tekontrol Inc. which is headquar-tered in Orlando and has a second office in the Phillippines. Tekontrol provides global engineering, logistics, information technology, training and management support services to the Department of Defense, as well as domestic and international clients in more than 40 countries. Thaddeus is also a member of The Central Florida Urban League for Young Professionals.

CONNOR LANGTON PVDMANASQUAN, N.J.

Connor is a corporate sales manager at The Reeds at Shelter Haven Resort in Stone Harbor.

LYNNETTE MARTINEZ PVDPAWTUCKET, R.I.

Lynnette is a staff accountant at Blum Shapiro in Providence.

MICHELLE MEEHAN ’15 MBA CLTNEW YORK, N.Y.

Michelle is an assistant director with the Flik Hospitality Group in New York City for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

ANTHONY SITEK PVDDELRAY BEACH, FLA.

Anthony is the executive chef at both locations of Apeiro Kitchen & Bar in South Florida. He and other restaurant representatives will be participating in two events during

the 2016 South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

ASHLEY WELLS PVDBRIDGEWATER, MASS.

Ashley is the office manager at Energy Geeks in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

ALBERTO WOMACK CLTKISSIMMEE, FLA.

Alberto was recently promoted to restaurant guest service manager at Walt Disney World Resorts.

2014BRANDI GEISER DENAURORA, COLO.

Brandi is an event coordinator at The Liniger Building at CU South Denver.

BELMYS HIDALGO NMINORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLA.

Belmys has joined the Chef Agency as a talent acquisitions specialist. Her primary focus will be identifying and selecting executive, mid-level chefs and upper-level executives for hotel, food and beverage operations across the globe.

JULIE KUSKA PVDMOHNTON, PA.

Julie is the housekeeping manager at The Inn at Penn, a Hilton Hotel.

[13] KIMBERLY LALIBERTE ED.D. PVDLINCOLN, R.I.

Kim was recently named assistant principal at Lincoln High School in Lincoln. This new role affords her a variety of experiences in an academically progressive school district. Kim continues to serve as an adjunct professor for JWU’s College of Arts & Sciences and College of Online Education.

[14]SARAH (BESS) LAMAY CLTMATTHEWS, N.C.

Bess is a premium services associate with the Charlotte Knights AAA baseball team.

JOSHUA LASHARR DENKENT, WASH.

Joshua is a project manager with Herzog Glass in Seattle.

MARIO LIMADURAN DENPHOENIX, ARIZ.

Mario is a performance sous chef with EXOS, a high intensity training center for athletes. Previously he was at Cornell University cooking for the Cornell Wrestling Team and working with the Cornell Sports Nutrition Department.

ASHLEY MCCALLA NMIWASHINGTON, D.C.

Ashley is a guest services agent at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington.

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Ashley Stout ’12 (right) with Christopher Plano, ’91, ’93, ’95, manager of JWU alumni relations for the Southeast region

37www.jwu.edu

[15] JOSHUA MERSFELDER PVDCAMILLUS, N.Y.

Josh is head of brewing operations at Local 315 Brewing Co., a new farm brewery.

MY NGUYEN PVD SILVER SPRING, MD.

My is a restaurant supervisor at the Bethesda Country Club in Bethesda.

DERRICK STROTHER NMINORTH LAUDERDALE, FLA.

Derrick has been promoted to account executive at MSC Cruise Lines; he also recently won their Top Sales Support Partner of the Year award.

RANDOLPH VIALVA PVDPAWTUCKET, R.I.

Randolph is a training coordina-tor at Citizens Bank of Rhode Island.

2015IRENE BARRERA DENDENVER, COLO.

Irene is a line cook at the Yard House in downtown Denver.

MICHAELA BRINKLEY PVDPAWTUCKET, R.I.

Michaela is the customer service and marketing coordinator at Revival Brewing Co. in Rhode Island.

CECILE L. PRIMEAU ’40Jan. 6, 2016

BEATRICE M. SPIRITO ’43Jan. 10, 2016

ROGER H. CROTEAU ’72 Nov. 19, 2015

WALTER A. KANIA ’73 Sept. 4, 2015

PAUL A. LAQUERRE ’76April 9, 2015

KUNO N. GROSSKURTH ’77Sept. 12, 2015

PETER G. MAXON ’77 Sept. 7, 2015

JOSEPH R. MUZZY ’77 Nov. 27, 2015

JOHN A. KROL ’78Dec. 29, 2015

JOSEPH O. LOURENCO ’79Dec. 15, 2015

EVELYN LAGARDE ’80Jan. 11, 2016

THOMAS L. LEWIS ’80Dec. 6, 2015

FORREST MERRILL ’80Oct. 11, 2015

CHARLES H. O’DONNELL III ’80Aug. 31, 2015

REBECCA K. RAYMOND ’81Sept. 17, 2015

HUGH W. SHERIDAN ’81Sept. 19, 2015

JAMES DUHAMEL ’82 Oct. 17, 2015

ALBERT J. NADEAU ’82 Jan. 6, 2016

MARY L. WARD ’83 Oct. 7, 2015

PETER E. HAMILTON ’84 Aug. 27, 2015

TIMOTHY CORDEIRO ’85 Dec. 9, 2015

WILLIAM J. CUNNINGHAM ’86Oct. 23, 2015

PAUL G. HANSEN ’86 Aug. 30, 2015

MELVIN J. LOSOVSKY ’86 Sept. 28, 2015

ROBERT T. WHITE ’88Dec. 31, 2015

MATTHEW BENCIVENGA ’91Jan. 25, 2016

SOCHEATA KOLBER ’94 Dec. 15, 2012

DONALD M. BOWICK ’95Oct. 6, 2015

CHRISTOPHER TAPKEN ’97 May 22, 2014

CHRISTOPHER D. HEGE ’99Dec. 1, 2014

STEPHANIE RAINEY ’99Nov. 28, 2015

MICHAEL C. JONES ’00Nov. 30, 2015

MANDIE ZUCKERMAN ’00Dec. 17, 2015

JOHN P. KLINE ’01 Jan. 15, 2016

KEITH C. ROBBINS ’03 Dec. 17, 2015

TAVIS J. SCHAFER ’04 Jan. 6, 2016

DOUGLAS M. AUSTIN ’05 Dec. 22, 2015

JASON M. CROCKETT ’05 Nov. 3, 2015

ALISS AGBOOLA ’06 Nov. 13, 2015

DAVID J. RAMELLA ’06Dec. 1, 2015

DAVID PIACITELLI ’07 Jan. 13, 2016

TARIN M. BYRNE ’08 Jan. 9, 2016

ANN-MARIE DANSICKER ’08Dec. 10, 2015

SHAYLA GREGORY ’08Dec. 2, 2015

KIMBERLY A. MITCHELL ’08Sept. 1, 2015

PHILLIP D. PUCCIARELLI ’08Sept. 20, 2015

SHAWN L. ZAVODJANCIK ’08 Nov. 5, 2015

FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS

CLYDE L. DELANDENov. 6, 2015

ALFRED KOZAR April 26, 2006

FREDERICK H. QUARRY, JR. Nov. 12, 2015

IN MEMORIAM

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Joshua Mersfelder (left) and Local 315 co-owner Dan Mathews

2001SANDY FINKLIN MITCHELL PVDAmora Mitchell

2006[20] JENNY FLANAGAN DEN and BrianCharles Henry

38 Winter 2016

CLASSNOTES

MOLLY GOZLAN PVDJAMAICA PLAIN, MASS.

Molly is working with Marriott International at Boston Marriott Long Wharf as an assistant manager of housekeeping.

GREGORY HALLETT DENDENVER, COLO.

Greg is the chef de partie at Footer’s Catering in Denver.

ANDREW JEWESAK NMITAMPA, FLA.

Andrew is a sales associate and event assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

BRYAN LAMAESTRA DENLAS VEGAS, NEV.

Bryan is the assistant manager at the Julian Serrano tapas restaurant located inside the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

WILLIAM LONG DENDENVER, COLO.

William is a sous chef at Baur’s Restaurant and Listening Lounge in Denver.

ALEXIS MCCRAE CLTPORTSMOUTH, VA.

Alexis is attending Old Dominion University working on her master’s degree in Lifespan and Digital Communication.

EBRAHIM REHAMAN DEN AURORA, COLO.

Ebrahim is the development lead cook at Food and Drink Resources in Centennial.

MARYROSE RUDZINSKI DENCANYON COUNTRY, COLO.

MaryRose is the new AmeriCorps program coordinator at Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters Colorado.

ANN STEFANEY CLTCHESAPEAKE, VA.

Ann is the pastry chef at Heirloom Restaurant owned by Clark Barlowe ’09 in Charlotte.

BREILYN THIGPEN NMILAKELAND, FLA.

Breilyn is the owner of Cupcake Conniption in Lakeland.

RAYMOND VARGAS PVDPROVIDENCE, R.I.

Raymond is a sales support specialist with Princess House Inc. in Taunton, Massachusetts.

MICHAEL WEBER DENREDONDO BEACH, CALIF.

Michael is the VIP leisure sales coordinator at Terranea in Los Angeles.

2016DURAND WINTON PVDAVON, COLO.

Durand is intermediate baker at The 10th with Vail Resorts in Vail.

BIRTH AND ADOPTIONS

1992JACQUELYN PENECOST GATTI ’96 M.S. CHSand Dan Gatti September 19, 2015

1997[16] ROBIN BASS FRASIER PVDand Walt Frasier December 17, 2015

2006 [17] ANTHONY CAPOZZOLI PVDand Julianna Kendziorski ’05 (PVD)August 15, 2014

2007[18] CHRISTINE (BENIGNI ) DELUCA PVDand Peter DeLuca ’07 (PVD)June 27, 2015

2007[19] MALLORY KELLY PVDand Doug Kelly ’08 (PVD) June 13, 2015

2011AMANDA BECK MCCLEERY CLTand Neil McCleery July 10, 2015

2012CHRISTOPHER VIAUD PVDand Emilee Tobin ’14 June 13, 2015

MARRIAGE AND UNIONS

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SUBMISSIONS

If there’s news in your life you’d like to share with fellow alumni, please send us photos and announcements about recent weddings, unions and additions to your family.

Images: To submit images from your event, please provide high resolution digital files (minimum one megabyte [1 MB] in size, in jpeg format), or actual photographs.

Entries may be emailed to jwumagazine@jwu.edu or mailed to:JWU Magazine c/o Johnson & Wales University, 8 Abbott Park Place, Providence, RI 02903.

39www.jwu.edu

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Posing proudly with the Johnson & Wales banner: front row, l-r: Alex (Parker) DeJesus ’07, Lauren Hackett ’08, Kirsten Yeo ’07, Peter, Christine, Sarah Cresta ’07, Mallory (Clayton) Kelly ’07, Lisa (Bock) Fann ’07, and Sarah (Hoffman) Czepizak ’06. back row, l-r: Joe Falzone ’07, Jon Pastor ’07, Kevin Rutledge ’07, Kevin Polizzatto ’07, David Hood ’07, ’08 MBA, Doug Kelly ’08, Ryan Ruthinoski ’06, Lee Fann ’05, ’07 MBA, Andy Vroom ’11, and Kevin Fogarty ’07.

front row, l-r: Sarah Cresta ’07, Christine Benigni ’07 and Peter DeLuca ’07, Sarah (Hoffman) Czepizak ’06, Michele (Pope) Kahn ’05, Mallory, Doug, Alex Hurley ’07, Julia (Skwarski) Markowitz ’08, Brooke Hutchinson ’09, Rebecca (Berta) Kreke ’07, and Laura Jean (DeFillippo) Henault ’07. back row, l-r:: David Hood ’07, ’08 MBA, Sam Tyree,

Deirdre Faherty ’05, Greta Bodenstab, Victor Silva ’07, and Michael Pendergast ’07.

40 Winter 2016

B

CAREER UPDATE

ACK IN 1990, I WAS 76th ON THE WAITLIST to meet with Hilton Hotels Corporation during on-campus recruiting at Johnson & Wales’ Providence Campus. That meant 75 people had to lose interest or leave the planet for me to get a shot at an interview. With that knowledge, I set up a few interviews within a certain radius of the Hilton recruiter. I had no luck breaking in. As I left the career development office empty-handed, there was a handsome guy in the seating area. I figured if I wasn’t getting a job with Hilton, I would at least get a lunch date. As I was chatting up this charming individual, he asked if I was interviewing with Hilton. I said no and explained my plight. He asked what I was interested in and I told him human resources. The stranger asked if I could wait until after lunch. I asked why because I thought we would have lunch together. At that point, he explained that he was the Hilton Hotels college liaison and he thought I should meet with the visiting VP of human resources. So I waited. I was given 10 minutes to state my case to the VP. A week later, I was sent an airline ticket to Chicago for a second round of interviews. A couple weeks after that, I was offered the East Coast placement for the Hilton Professional Development Program HR training rotation. Those were my first two lessons in career management: First, you NEVER know who you’re speaking with, and second, always have your “elevator pitch” ready.

I’ve been in human resources now for 25 years. (I can’t believe I just wrote that.) In the course of this wonderful, amazing and often ridicu-lous career, I’ve learned a shocking number of things along the way. You’ve already read the first two. Here are a few more highlights.

Everyone says money isn’t important. I’m here to tell you it IS. My mother always told me to have enough money to provide for yourself and two kids (I don’t have kids), but I took her advice and found a career that could provide a comfortable living. However, your happiness is also ex-tremely important. It is up to you to decide how to balance these two (often warring) factions. If you fail to figure this out, you will be destined for a lifetime of frustration and potential heartache.

Be kind and be honest. Those traits are very important when you’re dealing with people. And they are NOT mutually exclusive. Some of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in this business have resulted from a failure to have crucial conversations about real issues. Indeed, I’ve found that every broken system, process, issue or relationship can be traced to a

failure to have a candid conversation about the things that matter. This is true for business as well as your personal life. Learn to speak honestly while preserving and building relationships. It isn’t easy, but it is an art that will pay you back in spades your entire life.

Finally, it is later than you think. We are only here for a short time. There’s no time to be wait listing: I’ll wait until I have more money. I’ll wait until the timing is better. Find your passion and your joy. Find the career that is right for you. You cannot wait for someone to give it to you. YOU have to go get it and manage the process. The world doesn’t owe you anything, but you owe it to yourself to make your own way. It will not be handed to you.

I’m not the same brazen young woman I was back in the career devel-opment office that day, but I do admire her. I’ve had my bumps, disap-pointments and bad news along the way. But, like that day so long ago, I’ve always found a way around the dreaded waitlist.

Lessons Learned

Leslie Ferrier ’90 on how to turn a waitlist into a shortlist

Leslie Ferrier ’90

Leslie Ferrier (linkedin.com/in/leslieferrier) graduated in 1990 with a degree in Hospitality Management. Prior to Momofuku she worked for Hilton Worldwide, ABC Carpet & Home and various other companies.

The Chancellor’s Circle leadership society honors those who play a vital role in ensuring that our students have the resources they need to succeed.

Membership starts at $1,000 and graduates of the last decade have the opportunity to join at drastically reduced rates ($100 per year since graduation).

Be in the know before everyone else — and transform lives forever.

Join the Inner Circle

1-401-598-2185 giving.jwu.edu/jwufund PO Box 844Providence, R.I. 02901-9916

8 Abbott Park Place, Providence, RI 02903

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Students at Harborside Campus in Providence celebrate the first snowfall with a game of football.

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