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Our Charter Advisory Board
Our charter advisory board is made up of educators that are dedicated to providing inspiration, and mentorship to our organization through their experience, knowledge and passion towards culinary arts and hospitality education.
Kirk Bachmann - Vice President of Education - Corporate Executive Chef for Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America
Vice President of Education and Corporate
Executive Chef for Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America, Kirk T. Bachmann is Career Education Corporation.s culinary ambassador and corporate liaison to Le Cordon Bleu International. He travels throughout the United States, to Career Education Corporation.s 13 culinary programs, ensuring the integrity and high standards of the Le Cordon Bleu Program. Chef Bachmann, a fourth generation chef, began his culinary career at a very young age in the pastry kitchen of his father, a master pastry chef, trained in Germany. As a young teen, Chef Bachmann spent much time training at the Hotel Waldshanke; a resort in Northern Germany owned and operated by his uncle, also a classically trained chef. After graduating from the University of Oregon, with an honors degree in International Studies, Chef Bachmann went on to receive his formal culinary training at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. Later, Bachmann earned his Masters in Education from American Intercontinental University.
Bachmann honed his front-of-the-house skills while working with acclaimed Portland, Oregon Chef, Xavier Bauser, at the world class, Mobile 5 Star, Benson Hotel in Portland. Chef Bachmann then owned and operated his own restaurant in Colorado where he earned restaurant of the year accolades in 1990. Chef Bachmann is a Certified Executive Chef through the American Culinary Federation as well as being a Competition Medalist. He is also a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. In 1992 Bachmann was chosen for Citations .Who.s Who Among Rising Young Americans.. He has cooked for Heads of State and Celebrities. After a culinary career that began more than 20 years earlier, Chef Bachmann returned to the Western Culinary Institute in 1995 as a Chef Instructor.
While at Western, Chef Bachmann was instrumental in the implementation of the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program. In January of 2000 Chef Bachmann accepted the position of Education Director, Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America and with it, the responsibility of maintaining the standards and quality of the Le Cordon Bleu Program. (Through a partnership formed between Le Cordon Bleu International, Paris, and Career Education Corporation, the world.s largest provider of quality culinary education, the culinary schools of Career Education Corporation have the exclusive rights to offer the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Program.) Today, Chef Bachmann continues to ensure the highest level of professionalism at Le Cordon Bleu Programs throughout the United States. He has also been very instrumental in the implementation of Le Cordon Bleu Pâtisserie and Baking Program as well as the Le Cordon Bleu Hospitality & Restaurant Management Program.
Chef Randy Cheramie B.A.
Chef Randy Cheramie B.A., is currently the Associate Dean of The John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. Mr. Cheramie was the chef/proprietor of Randolph’s Restaurant in Golden Meadow, La. for 20 years succeeding his father’s 40 year tenure. Randy has contributed articles to P.O.V, Louisiana Cooking and Country Roads magazines. Besides traditional teaching, Randy enjoys preparing students for ACF and other types of cooking competitions.
Chris Day – Corporate Chef, Mercer Tool
Christopher Day
Corporate Chef
Mercer Cutlery
"Innovations For Chefs"
Christopher Day, considered one of the country’s foremost authorities on knives, is the corporate chef for Mercer Tool Corp, a knife manufacturing company known widely for supplying the majority of fine culinary schools in North America.
Author of Prentice Hall’s best seller “The American Culinary Federation, Knife Skills for Chefs” Christopher is a 1988 graduate of The Culinary Institute Of America, Christopher received his passion for food and cooking early in life working alongside his mother Patricia in the family kitchen. In addition to the years spent cooking in New York and Chicago, He has spent much of his career teaching others how to select and use the right knife for the job at hand as well as how to maintain them. Christopher lives in the Chicago area with his wife Tina, three daughters Hannah, Gabrielle and Ella Grace.
Gerard Fischetti '78, C.C.M., C.H.E.
Associate Professor in Business Management, The Culinary Institute of America
Education:
M.S., Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY;
B.S., Florida International University, Miami, FL;
A.O.S. with honors, CIA.
Professional Background:
General Manager, Kirkbrae Country Club, Lincoln, RI.
Assistant General Manager/Food and Beverage Manager, Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta.
Chief Operating Officer, Classic Cheesecake Wholesale Bakery, Atlanta.
Director of Catering, Restaurant Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta.
Cafe Manager, Omni International Hotel, Atlanta.
Awards:
Two silver medals, U.S. Chef's Open Culinary Competition, Atlanta, 1990.
Advisory Board Member, CIA/Cornell Alliance
E-mail Address:
j_fische@culinary.edu
Michael Nenes, MBA, CEC, CCE – Assistant Vice President of Culinary Education -The International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes
Nenes began his career with The Art Institutes in 1992 as Director of Culinary Arts for The Art Institute of Houston. He started the Culinary Arts program at the school from its infancy. Chef Nenes was appointed Assistant Vice President of Culinary Arts for The Art Institutes in 2004.
In his role, Nenes oversees standardization of The Art Institutes schools’ Culinary Arts curriculum, supports the Academic Directors for Culinary Arts, aids in designing the school system’s culinary facilities and new product development and serves as the culinary advisor for The Art Institutes Best Teen Chef Competition. Chef Nenes is the author of the second edition of The Art Institutes American Regional Cuisine book and International Cuisine.
With over 35 years of hospitality management experience, Chef Nenes has an MBA in Entrepreneurship and is certified by the American Culinary Federation as a Certified Executive Chef.
Prior to joining The Art Institutes, Nenes owned and operated successful restaurants in Houston, Texas, Fairbanks, Alaska; and Vail, Colorado. He served as an Executive Chef for ARAMARK Corporation; and as a consultant to organizations including: Campbell’s Soup Company, The Rice Council of America, Moet & Chandon Champagne and Star Fleet Cruise Ships.
Areas of expertise
American regional cuisine, culinary management, International cuisine, restaurant operations and wild game cuisine.
Jane A. Nickles, MBA, CSW
Jane A. Nickles, MBA, CSW, has been a chef instructor, faculty development coach and wine educator at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts for over twelve years. Jane teaches culinary arts, sanitation, and food and beverage cost control in addition to the wine classes she leads as part of the overall culinary and pastry arts curricula at TCA.
"Miss Jane", as her students call her, is also the author of "WineSpeak 101, regular wine columnist for Eat and Drink Austin Magazine, and wine writer for the website "The Texas Wine and Food Gourmet". Jane has
recently been honored by being named the Career Education Corporation's "Educator of the Year - Excellence in Teaching" for both 2007 and 2009 from a field of over 90 colleges and 6,000 faculty members. In February of 2009 Jane was the winner of FELC's first "The Ultimate Culinary Educator" teaching contest at the inaugural FELC Summit in Charleston, South Carolina.
CHEF GARY J. PRELL - CEC, CCE, CHE, AAC, MBA.
President & CEO
Professional Culinary Institute
Gary J. Prell graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with high honors in 1982 and earned his Masters of Business Administration from Colorado State University in 1998.
After his graduation from Culinary School, Gary co-founded Bon Appétit Catering in San Francisco and served as Executive Chef. During this period Gary had the opportunity to cook for three US Presidents, the Queen of England, the Pope and multitudes of other celebrities.
In 1990, Gary relocated to Denver, with Centerplate, as the opening Executive Chef for the new Colorado Convention Center and Denver Performing Arts Complex. From its opening, Chef Prell and his team served millions of meals to organizations such as ASAE, MPI, PCMA, Produce Marketing, Harley Davidson, Chrysler Corporation, Microsoft, SAP, the Grand Prix and many others.
In 1993, Gary accepted a position with the Art Institutes as Dean of the School of Culinary Arts—building the organization’s first free-standing culinary school in Denver. After growing the student body to over 500 students in just over 2 years, and attaining status as Ai’s first America Culinary Federation accredited school, Gary accepted a new role with Ai’s parent company, Education Management Corporation. As Director of Culinary Arts, Gary facilitated the replication of the successful educational model in 12 other major metropolitan markets, as well as creating and implementing scholarship & study abroad programs.
In 2001 Gary returned to Centerplate as the General Manager for the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Performing Arts Complex. In 2006 Gary was named Vice President and added oversight for operations of the Washington DC and Orlando Convention Centers. In 2008, Gary led a team of over 1000 foodservice professionals to execute the “Guinness World Book of Records” for the largest sit-down banquet in history—17,400pp! In 2009, Gary and his team served 48,000pp in six concurrent balls to inaugurate the 44th President of the United States—Barack Obama.
Gary is certified by the American Culinary Federation as an Executive Chef as well as a Culinary Educator. The American Hotel and Motel Association certifies Gary as a Hospitality Educator.
Gary has served the foodservice & hospitality community as a past President and Executive Officer of the ACF Colorado Chefs de Cuisine, a member of the Board of Directors for the Denver Convention & Visitors Bureau, Chairman of the Denver Hospitality Alliance and Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Colorado Restaurant Association.
Gary has received numerous recognitions during his career which include: the 1993 ACF National Outstanding Service Award, the 1993 Colorado Chef of the Year, and the 1995 ACF President’s medallion. In 1995 Chef Prell was inducted into the American Academy of Chef's—the honor society of the American Culinary Federation. In 1999 Gary received the ACF “A Cut Above Award”.
In 2000 Chef Prell was selected as the Guest Chef for the World Cruise aboard the Queen Elizabeth II to introduce his cooking textbook “American Regional Cuisine” published by John Wiley and Sons. In 2002 Gary received the “Mile High Energy” Award from the DMCVB and the Chairman’s Award from the Colorado Restaurant Association in 2003. In 2005, the American Academy of Chefs honored Gary with the “In Good Taste” award. Gary was inducted into the ACF Colorado Chef’s Hall of Fame in 2008.
Gary is most proud of the many students and professional colleagues who he has coached and mentored. Their success is his.
Colin P. Roche – MBA, CEC, CCE, CHE, FMP, ACE
Department Chair / Assistant Professor for the College of Culinary Arts
Johnson & Wales University, North Miami, Florida
Chef Colin Roche has been in the hospitality field for over thirty years and has two associates, a bachelor, and a master’s degree in this discipline. His first associate is an AOS in culinary arts from Newbury College in Boston, while the other is an AOS in hotel and restaurant management from Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland, where he graduated valedictorian.
Both his Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality administration and his Masters of Business Administration degree with a hospitality specialization are from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida where he graduated with high honors. He is currently in the doctoral program at Florida Atlantic University pursuing his PhD in Higher Education Leadership.
A member of numerous professional organizations including the American Culinary Federation (ACF); ACF Greater Miami Epicurean Club; Florida Writer’s Association; International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE); Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA); Foodservice Educators Learning Community (FELC); and the National Restaurant Association (NRA). He is also an American Red Cross volunteer; Florida Department of Environmental Resources Management volunteer; and active with the Boy Scouts of America Gulf Stream Council; as well as a member of multiple honor societies including The National Honors Society, Golden Key International Honor Society, and Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society.
His numerous certifications include American Culinary Federation “Certified Executive Chef” (CEC); “Certified Culinary Educator” (CCE); “Approved Certification Evaluator” (ACE); as well as a certification practical exam test administrator. The National Restaurant Association has certified him a “Foodservice Management Professional” (FMP) as well as a ServSafe Sanitation Trainer and Proctor. From the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute he has earned the title of “Certified Hospitality Educator” (CHE); and has been certified by The National Registry of Food Safety Professionals as a Food Safety Manager.
