Nick Camerlengo, assistant director of facilities for dining services

Carnegie Mellon University

Nominator: Joe Beaman, director of dining services, Carnegie Mellon University

“Nick has taken on multiple roles in dining services throughout this year. As the assistant director of facilities for dining services, Nick coordinated all of the physical safety protocols in our dining spaces. Nick coordinated the installation and maintenance of plexiglass in our 29 dining venues, managed by our 10 separate vendors. In coordination with our sustainability team, Nick managed the disposal processes at CMU Dining by helping to coordinate the increase in our composting locations throughout the program. 

While these items are traditionally within Nick's responsibilities, he was also tasked with managing the Isolation/Quarantine housing program at CMU. This well-organized, successful COVID housing protocol featured daily meal deliveries to multiple locations across campus. By taking on these extra responsibilities, Nick helped keep the CMU campus community safe!”

Danielle Cox, director of retail operations

Coastal Carolina University/Aramark

Nominator: Scott Kidd, general manager/director of operations, Higher Education Aramark

“Danielle Cox has served in her role as director of retail operations here at Coastal Carolina University for the last two years. In the time I have worked closely with her, she has been a tireless leader adapting to constant change with ongoing impacts from COVID. She has proven to be creative in solving difficult issues and inspiring to others through her positive demeanor and managerial posture. She is a true hospitality professional dedicated to the success of the team here at Coastal Carolina University. She is a great example for others in our industry who are leading from the front as we emerge out of the difficult circumstances of last several years.”

Ken Ferro, assistant director of dining services

West Side Dining, Stony Brook University/CulinArt

Nominator: Perry Tucciarone, director of operations, CulinArt Inc.

“Ken goes above and beyond every day. During down time, he developed and then implemented a training program for over 200 food service workers and cooks. His ability to share a vision and lead a team is commendable.”

David Harr, general manager

Sodexo at The University of Findlay

Nominator: Riley McKinniss, unit marketing coordinator, Sodexo at The University of Findlay

“Each year, David P. Harr goes above and beyond for his community by hosting and coordinating the Helping Hands Food Drive. Each year, he is faced with more challenges than the year before, especially during a pandemic that prevented people from gathering to collect food in-person. This year, however, Sodexo at UF was able to host a hybrid style drive where individuals were able to gather in person if they felt comfortable, while others could donate a monetary amount and keep their participation strictly virtual. The company, university and community have high expectations for the drive as it directly impacts the Findlay and Hancock County area. All food collected is donated to CHOPIN Hall in Findlay. Although David has a team of volunteers, he takes on a large amount of responsibility by coordinating the entire food drive while continuing to keep the dining locations on campus operating smoothly. David brainstorms ideas to get students, faculty, staff and the community involved, and does everything possible to bring those ideas to life. He reaches out to individuals and companies for donations and sponsorships, which play a large part in the drive. On November 3rd, 2021, the 16th Annual Helping Hands Food Drive reached a record with 214,559 pounds of food collected and donated to CHOPIN Hall. This could not have happened without David's efforts and the passion he has for his community. Our team at Sodexo UF truly believes David is a Foodservice Hero that deserves recognition and appreciation.”

Jerrell Honore, retail/board manager

Tuskegee University/Thompson Hospitality

Nominator: Devin Smith, executive chef, Sodexo

“Goes above and beyond to make sure staff and operations of the business are successful every day”

James Jerome, area foodservice director

Valencia College/Aladdin Campus Dining

Nominator: Rami Golden, regional operations manager, Aladdin Campus Dining

“Jim has been instrumental during the last two years through COVID in relation to his commitment to our clients and team members. He worked at several levels wearing different hats to ensure his accounts, although suspended due to COVID, had constant communication and operational oversight and provided regional support, and he also kept his team up to date on any new information related to reopening. When the time finally came to reopen all his locations, the planning and organization were key to ensure the client and team members had a roadmap to reopening. This allowed for a seamless transition to reopening with COVID protocols and opening new national brands at the same time. As we continued to move through the COVID environment, back to normalcy, his dedication, outlook, communication and innovation led to a happy client, positive feedback from the returning students and a solid long-term path for his areas of responsibility. Jim has stayed positive, provided valuable insight, worked in the trenches and been the voice for his team, company and client while managing to provide all with what they needed to be successful then, now and in the future.”

Brian Kawa, resident district manager

Marquette University

Nominator: Nicole Partee, senior marketing manager, Sodexo

“As the pandemic continued to impact local businesses and the student experience on campuses around the country, Brian introduced the Eat Local program in the spring of 2021 to the students at Marquette University. Brian recognized the importance of supporting local restaurants and food vendors that were struggling throughout the pandemic while giving students an opportunity to try foods that were unique to the Milwaukee area as part of their meal plan. The initial partnerships were a big hit with students and provided much needed financial relief for the original partners. 

Through the introduction of restaurants and locally manufactured food offerings as part of the meal plan, Brian and his team began a trend that carried into the fall and expanded into steady partnerships throughout this academic year. Since the introduction of the Eat Local program, Brian’s team at Marquette Dining Services by Sodexo has worked with over 25 restaurants and food vendors, expanded retail offerings across campus to include products from women and minority, locally owned businesses, and provided over 15,000 meals to students on campus from local restaurants. 

Through these partnerships, Brian and his team have contributed over $100,000 of direct economic impact (and growing!) to small businesses in the Milwaukee area. 

For his dedication to supporting the local community while providing a positive student experience during unprecedented times I would like to nominate Brian Kawa for Foodservice Hero award.”

Jolene Kaufman, assistant director of retail dining

Fort Hays State University Memorial Union/Chartwells

Nominator: Carrie Welsek, director of retail dining, [email protected] Hayes State University

“Jolene is a hero in every way to us. She is the ‘Go To’ person for all daily operations questions, immediate needs and any task needing to be done. She has been with us for over nine years now and was practically running the retail side of operations herself as an hourly associate. We can always count on her to be consistent in her expectations of the staff, and she is the first one to help with whatever needs to get done. She is my right hand in all things here and I couldn't do my job anywhere near as effectively without her.”

Kenneth Lamica, director of catering operations

Bama Dining, University of Alabama

Nominator: Bruce McVeagh, district manager, Aramark

“Ken Lamica is a foodservice hero because of the amazing job he did over the past two years feeding students, faculty and staff during the pandemic. Ken is the director of catering at the University of Alabama and has been at the university for 15 years. During the pandemic Ken and team served over 30,000 meals that included box lunches, hot meals and snacks delivered to students in quarantine and on the campus at large. In addition, Ken was a key player in making sure the 200 residents in their rooms each day at Capstone Village, an on-campus assisted living facility, received service. Ken personally delivered meals to residents, and created special theme menu items for Easter, Christmas and New Year’s. Due to Ken’s dedication, organization and sense of urgency, we were able to keep campus life as normal as possible in this very confusing and downright scary time. Each time the situations and COVID standards would change, so would Ken and his team. He truly was an unsung hero.”

Dan Maertz, general manager

Wilson College/SAGE Dining Services

Nominator: Colin Abernethy, district manager, SAGE Dining Services

“Dan has assembled and led an incredible team through the pandemic at Wilson College. He's tackled the challenges we face in a post-pandemic service industry in unique and constructive ways that have allowed his team and SAGE to succeed at Wilson College; they continue to increase service and variety in the dining services program at the school.

Dan has integrated himself, his team and SAGE as community partners with Wilson College by actively soliciting feedback from students and making immediate changes to the program based on what they want to see, from new and innovative made-to-order stations— like the inside-out eggroll station and made-to-order gnocchi bar—to beautiful house-made desserts and special themed meals for the students. Dan goes above and beyond to make everyone at Wilson College feel like they have a voice in their dining experience and feel welcome at the table. 

Beyond the dining hall, Dan's incredibly active on campus and serves on several of the college’s committees. He's one of the first people new students interact with on campus; he sets up a booth for accepted students to answer their questions, helps with orientation and generally helps them navigate the ins and outs of their new home-away-from-home. One of his favorite experiences was having the opportunity to work with the college chaplain on a Habitat for Humanity project on campus during the pandemic.

At a time when many members of our industry have felt defeated by supply chain issues, or have given up and left the industry completely, Dan continues to push forward with an undying passion for service and innovation—all while passing this sense of commitment and duty along to those who have the honor of working with him. He is truly an example of a real food service hero.”

Chris Przylucki, food service director

Cochise College/Aladdin Food Management

Nominator: Joshua Gurley, district manager, Aladdin Food Management

“Chris works with the Boys and Girls Club of Douglas County, teaching them basic culinary skills and in this process discovered the severe needs of the community and found a way to get meals to the children. Looking forward, Chris is looking for funding and finding a way to a grant to secure funding for the food pantry.”

Lauren Sleeger, director

Rathbone Student Restaurant, Lehigh University/Sodexo

Nominator: Evan Rehrig, marketing specialist, Sodexo

“In addition to overseeing our foodservice operations at Rathbone Student Restaurant on campus at Lehigh University, Lauren is also our sustainability champion. She works hand-in-hand with the Office of Sustainability to ensure we are offering food that is not just delicious and healthy but also community-based and sustainable. Over the course of the past year, Lauren has worked closely with the university to develop the Sustainable and Healthful Food Purchasing Policy at Lehigh. This policy outlines Lehigh's commitment to the purchasing of sustainable and healthful food and to transforming the traditional university food system into one that is more sustainable, climate-friendly, diverse, inclusive and equitable. Along these lines, Lauren has spearheaded several sustainability-based dining initiatives that include…

• Adding two farm shelves at our all-you-care-to-eat student restaurants. These hydroponic indoor farms grow herbs that our culinary teams use in food preparation.

• Developing relationships with local farms and purveyors like Scholl Orchards, from where we source local apples and pears.

• Working with a team of students to communicate and reduce the carbon footprint we are making on campus through dining services.

• The installation of an environmentally friendly food bio-digester at Rathbone to reduce organic waste to grey water within 24 hours.”

Justin Uy, operations manager

Sodexo/ Western Illinois University

Nominator: Tim Teslicka, marketing manager, Sodexo/Western Illinois University

From Colby Rhodd, General Manager, Western Illinois University…

“Currently, Justin is the operations manager on our campus for Sodexo. He works directly with me as the general manager overseeing all operations on campus, including residential dining, retail dining, catering, c-stores and concessions. Our retail locations on campus include Chick-Fil-A, Qdoba and Starbucks.

Our world in food service was quickly turned upside down on St. Patrick’s Day 2020, when the CDC announced the beginnig of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our staff was tasked with pivoting operations to an all to-go style of dining. Our entire model had to change overnight. Justin quickly went to work ensuring that all of our staff, students and customers were going to remain safe by continuing to dine with us.

As COVID-19 cases began to rise, our staff was challenged daily with making adjustments to our business model. Our campus made the decision to re-open a residential hall, which had been closed for several years, to quarantine students who had tested positive. While many foodservice providers were unable to, or simply chose not to, operate under these circumstances, Justin refused to allow that on our campus. Justin planned a menu with a QR code for these students to be able to order three meals a day, delivered straight to them.

The way Justin tackled the issue of having COVID-19-positive and quarantined students was nothing shy of amazing. He simply refused to allow these students to go without a hot and fresh meal. It was because of these actions that many parents personally reached out and thanked him for taking care of their kid.

Throughout this process, Sodexo also renovated our retail dining space in the University Union, upgrading to a modern retail line-up of Chick-Fil-A, Qdoba, and a Starbucks “We Proudly Serve” location. Justin’s ability to maintain constant communication with the general manager, contractors, and brand representatives allowed us to complete the renovation and open day one of the Fall 2021-22 semester. The staff training, coordination of vendors and support that Justin displayed was nothing shy of amazing.

Finally, Justin recently started our new CAP (Culinary Apprentice Program) on campus, targeting students with additional interest in foodservice. This process allows us to identify and target prospective students who show a desire to learn and grow in the foodservice industry. These students are given extensive hands-on training with our chef and executive chef, learning about allergen-free foods, cooking techniques and customer service.

I am incredibly blessed to have someone like Justin working on our team, both for Sodexo and Western Illinois University. His absolute refusal to deliver the best experience possible has allowed our entire organization and campus to serve our customers to the best of our abilities. Justin Uy is truly the definition of an ‘Unsung Hero’.”

Traci Takeuchi, UCSC Hospitality general manager

UCSC University Dining

Nominator: Josh Martin, executive chef, UCSC University Dining

“In looking back, I realize that our team was never honored or recognized for the work we did in fall 2020 in Santa Cruz, California during the CZU fire. During those weeks, we evacuated the UCSC campus due to the close proximity of the fire to the local SC Boardwalk and served 30,000 meals to the SC evacuation centers and the UCSC evacuated students. I worked side by side with a few dining senior leaders who showed up to load food and equipment in order to service this need, scrambling to clear out walk-in refrigerators with campus police and fire counting the minutes till we were told there was no more time left and we had to go. During that time, one person stood out more than any other on my team. Traci Takeuchi, our Hospitality Department general manager.  Traci has always been a hard-working member of our team, leading catering, the commissary and our full-service restaurant, but during this time of need, Traci showed up and assisted in leading a streamlined production that ensured those in a dire time of need were well fed. It's been a struggle to reopen during the pandemic with low staffing, supply chain issues and C-19 protocols, but Traci Takeuchi, whether it is during an emergency or just another Monday, always keeps a positive attitude. It is for these reasons that I am nominating Traci Takeuchi for this award. Thank you.”