Tim O’Donnell, a chef who is a veteran of both the kitchen and the classroom, has been named the program director, culinary arts and hospitality at Guilford Technical Community College.
“Everyone who has met Chef O’Donnell has been impressed by the enthusiasm and experience he brings to his new position,” said Deborah Walsh, dean of business, creative and performing arts. “He will be an important addition to our efforts to continue the tradition of excellence in GTCC’s culinary and hospitality programs.”
In his new position, O’Donnell will be in charge of program development and management, budget development and management, maintaining programmatic accreditation and external partnerships and providing operational supervision to full- and part-time faculty and staff in the department. A full-time faculty member, O’Donnell will also have instructional responsibilities.
“I’m very excited to join GTCC’s culinary arts and hospitality program. The educators I will be working with have long committed themselves to making GTCC’s culinary arts and hospitality program one of the best in the region. I look forward to continuing that tradition of excellence,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell, who has an MBA from Purdue University and a Bachelor of Science in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University, was the director of the Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management at Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing, N.J., before coming to GTCC. He has spent the last 24 years in higher education, either leading college hospitality and culinary arts programs or serving as an instructor in college hospitality and culinary arts classes.
O’Donnell, a native Floridian, began work in Miami area restaurants when he was 13 and worked his way through the ranks, including a job cooking aboard ships that ferried crews to oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana. He’s been an executive chef for over 20 years and has owned and operated three small resorts and restaurants in the Bahamas. He also has served as a chef in Thailand, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Original source can be found here.
