Certified Master Chef Brad Barnes Named New Head of Continuing Education at The Culinary Institute of America
Certified Master Chef and culinary industry veteran Brad Barnes ('87), CMC, CCA, AAC, has been named senior director of continuing education at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
Barnes previously served as senior director of culinary education at the CIA, where he helped restructure the associate-degree programs and played an integral part in the development and implementation of the new CIA Academic Delivery System.
Working from the school’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus, Barnes will introduce innovations to the existing three-part curriculum in the department: Food Enthusiast classes, including Culinary Boot Camps and weekend classes; the ProChef® Certification program; and CIA Consulting, which offers creative marketing and menu solutions to the industry.
“We are very excited and gratified to have an esteemed alumnus such as Chef Barnes to lead our Continuing Education initiatives,” said CIA Provost Mark Erickson ('77), CMC. “His vision, enhanced by his high-profile culinary accomplishments, will be very effective in guiding the department into the next decade.”
“The Continuing Education Department is the public face of the CIA,” Barnes said. “My objective is to keep its offerings fresh and in line with advancements in the culinary industry. My strength is my professional culinary background; I speak the language of this field and will bring those skills to bear in course development and industry connectivity.”
CIA alumnus Barnes is the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) professor at the CIA. Before returning to his alma mater in 2009, Barnes was president of GigaChef, LLC, a consulting company for hotels and high-volume foodservice. He previously held executive-chef positions for a variety of establishments, including 64 Greenwich Avenue and Nancy Allen Rose Catering in Greenwich, Conn. Active in the American Culinary Federation, Barnes is chair of its Certified Master Chef Committee, a certified competition judge, and the recipient of several honors, including the ACF President’s Award. The co-author of three books, he served as coach for Culinary Team USA at the Internationale Kochkhunst Ausstellung (IKA) in 2000, 2004 and 2008.