Joshua John Russell on Campus as Distinguished Visiting Chef

Brunswick, GA – The College of Coastal Georgia’s School of Business and Public Affairs is adding a new dimension to the Career Associate program in Culinary Arts – Distinguished Visiting Chef. Food Network Challenge favorite, pastry chef Joshua John Russell of Atlanta, will be the first, joining the baking class for a day at the Camden Center on July 18.

“Our idea is to have a celebrated local, regional, or national chef spend time in class to engage the culinary arts students by teaching and mentoring. We plan to do this every semester,” explained Dr. Skip Mounts, Dean of the School of Business and Public Affairs. “Chef Russell brings excitement as well as extraordinary talent to the art of cake baking and sugar art. He’s been designing cakes for over seven years and is known for his attention to detail and unusual flair.”

Born in Mississippi, Chef Russell graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island and interned at the Grove Park Inn, Asheville. His resume includes pastry chef at Atlanta’s Highland Bakery, instructor in cake decorating at the Viking Cooking School, instructor at the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show in Tulsa, and multiple episodes of the Food Network Challenge. His work can be seen on TV, in magazines, in the book, Decadent Details, and in the Katherine Heigl movie, Life As We Know It.

Coastal George’s Culinary Arts program is nationally accredited by the American Culinary Federation. Assistant Professor Walter Wright, a graduate of Cornell University, serves as the Hospitality Management Program Coordinator. Chef Steven L. Ingersoll, Assistant Professor of Culinary Arts, is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute and was Camden County's 2009 Chef of the Year. The Hospitality Advisory Board members include several well-known local chefs: Chef Abigail Hutchinson, Executive Chef of the Jekyll Island Club; Chef Daniel Zeal, Chef de Cuisine of the Forbes Five-Star Georgian Room at The Cloister; and Chef David Carrier, Executive Chef of The Cloister and Beach Club.

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