Muskegon’s Culinary Institute of Michigan Earns National Industry Honors

Chef Amanda Miller, CSC, CPC, pictured with the 2019 American Culinary Federation (ACF) Knowledge Bowl National Championship trophy.

A toast is in order to the hard-working team at the Muskegon campus of the Culinary Institute of Michigan (CIM), a division of Baker College, and one of its instructors, Chef Amanda Miller, CSC, CPC. They have earned 2020 industry honors from the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ), a national organization that serves as a link between the foodservice industry and the culinary/baking/pastry classroom.

Chef Miller, a Muskegon, Mich.-resident and culinary arts/baking and pastry arts instructor at CIM Muskegon, has been named as CAFÉ’s 2020 Educator of the Year for a post-secondary institution. The award acknowledges Chef Miller’s commitment to quality education, to her students and to the advancement of the culinary, baking and pastry and hospitality professions.

Chef Miller, who has been with CIM Muskegon since 2015, is the first-ever CIM instructor to earn the CAFÉ Educator of the Year designation. Throughout her career, she has coached multiple American Culinary Federation (ACF) award-winning Knowledge Bowl teams, and also has earned numerous ACF competition medals. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Chef Miller also is an active member and president of the ACF West Michigan Lakeshore Chapter - MI 122, as well as student chapter advisor.

“There are so many indefinable qualities that make Chef Miller a consummate professional,” said Jamie LeRoux, CIM program director/Sweet Spot & COURSES Restaurant manager. “I see firsthand the direct impact she makes in the lives of our students…she is the first person many students turn to when seeking guidance and advice.”

CAFÉ also has honored CIM Muskegon with its 2020 Green Award, in recognition of the program’s emphasis on sustainability and other “green” aspects, which positively impact the college and community through thoughtful innovation in practices and design.

CIM Muskegon implements a variety of activities to promote sustainability, nutrition and social responsibility, including its Skip the Straw initiative (to end single-use plastic straw use), Big Apple Crunch program, which uses Michigan apples to promote local agriculture, on-site, student-planted and harvested vegetable and herb gardens, local neighborhood clean-ups and more.

The Culinary Institute of Michigan offers degree programs in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry and Food and Beverage Management. Students learn to develop creativity and technical skills through intensive hands-on instruction from experienced industry professionals in world-class training facilities at campus locations in Muskegon and Port Huron, Mich. For more information on the Culinary Institute of Michigan, visit https://www.baker.edu/academics/affiliated-institutions/culinary-institute-of-michigan/.