Leadership
The search for the Carbonell Family Executive Director of the Global Food Institute has commenced. Please visit the search page here for more information.
José Andrés
Founder
José Andrés is the founder of the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University. Born in Spain, where he learned the craft of cooking first from his parents and then in the kitchen of Ferran Adrià’s groundbreaking avant-garde restaurant elBulli – José Andrés immigrated to the United States in 1991, first to New York City and later to Washington, D.C., where he and his partners established a global group of restaurants that has earned countless fans and won numerous awards over the years.
A proud "Washingtonian with an accent" who serves as Chairman Emeritus of DC Central Kitchen, José holds close both his identity as a Spanish immigrant and an American citizen, placing upon himself the responsibility of both culinary ambassador and immigrant representing the two nations. He is a visionary and a humanitarian, establishing World Central Kitchen in 2010 – a first-to-the-frontlines nonprofit organization providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.
José has long been a beloved member of the GW community, launching his famous "World On A Plate" class for undergraduates a decade ago and delivering the University’s 2014 Commencement address on the National Mall, at which he received his honorary doctorate in public service.
He has been widely recognized for both his culinary and his humanitarian work, including by the James Beard Foundation – which has named him Outstanding Chef and Humanitarian of the Year; TIME Magazine, which included him on the list of 100 Most Influential People in 2012 and 2018; and President Obama, who awarded José the National Humanities Medal in 2015. In 2022, President Biden appointed José to co-chair the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
William H. Dietz
Director of Research and Policy
William (Bill) Dietz is the Director of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University. He is also the Sumner M. Redstone Center Chair. Dietz is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) and serves as a consultant to the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. He is the Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance at The George Washington University. He is Co-Chair of the Washington, DC Department of Health’s Diabesity Committee, a Commissioner on the Washington, DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s Healthy Youth & Schools Commission, and Chair of its Subcommittee on Physical Activity. Dietz is also Co-Chair of The Lancet Commission on Obesity.
From 1997-2012, Dietz was the Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Prior to his appointment to the CDC, he was a Professor of Pediatrics at the Tuft's University School of Medicine, and Director of Clinical Nutrition at the Floating Hospital of New England Medical Center Hospitals. He received his BA from Wesleyan University in 1966 and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. After the completion of his residency at Upstate Medical Center, he received a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. He is the author of more than 200 publications in the scientific literature, and the editor of five books, including Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children (now in its 2nd edition), and Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know.
Tara A. Scully
Director of Curriculum Development
Tara A. Scully is the Director of the Sustainability Minor Program and an Associate Professor of Biology at the George Washington University. At GW, she regularly teaches introductory biology and sustainability courses and laboratories to non-science majors. She teaches seven different courses, four in biology for non-science majors which are lab and service-based and three signature courses in sustainability program. The Biology of Nutrition and Health; The Ecology and Evolution of Organisms; Food, Nutrition, and Service; Understanding Organisms through Service Learning; Introduction to Sustainability; Culminating Experience in Sustainability, and World on a Plate by Chef José Andrés.
Scully received an MS, specializing in forensic science research with a concentration on fiber evidence, and a PhD with a research focus on developmental biology from The George Washington University. She has authored many research articles along with the book Discovering Biology in the Lab: An Introductory Laboratory Manual as well as Why We Eat Food. Scully works with many different DMV area community partners on topics ranging from nutrition to invasive species. Her service and instructional work has resulted in being awarded the university-wide Faculty Engagement Award 2016 from the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and the 2019 Morton Bender Teaching Award.