CHICAGO Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy and Ferdinand Metz are among those who will honored in May at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's annual Salute to Excellence Awards.
The awards ceremony will be held May 22 at the Hilton Chicago hotel. The event also will kick off the NRA’s annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, which runs May 22-25 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Cathy, who serves as chairman and chief executive at Chick-fil-A, has been named this year’s Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality award, the NRAEF said.
The 2010 College of Diplomates inductees are Jerald W. Chesser, a professor at California State Polytechnic University’s Collins College of Hospitality Management in Pomona, Calif.; Alice Elliot, founder and chief executive of the Elliot Group, an executive search firm in Tarrytown, N.Y.; and Denise Fugo, chairman and chief executive of Cleveland-based Sammy’s.
Metz, president emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and managing partner of the Master Chefs’ Institute in Escondido, Calif., will receive the Michael E. Hurst Lifetime of Achievement in Education award.
“We are honored to recognize these extraordinary individuals with the NRAEF’s most prestigious awards,” said Dawn Sweeney, the NRA’s president and chief executive. “We are privileged to honor them for their contributions, and they fully embody our commitment to enhancing the restaurant industry’s service to the public through education, community engagement and promotion of career opportunities.”
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].
