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The School of Hospitality welcomes four new faculty - Tobin Eppard, Dr. Marissa Orlowski, Smita Singh, and Dr. Inna Soifer - as well as new staff member Chef Shellie Kark to the Hospitality family.
Toby has been tenured at Coors Brewing Company since 1986 where he started in the Quality Control – Microbiology Department. He has worked in many technical disciplines in the areas of Quality Management, Production, Research Pilot Brewing, Brewing Technology Training, Research and Development, Product Development/Innovation, Corporate Brewing and is frequently consulted within the international community with regard to Yeast and Fermentation processes.
Toby has earned undergraduate degrees in Biology/Microbiology and Chemistry and also has earned graduate degrees in Operations Management and Marketing. He has also completed the Master Brewer’s program under the tutelage of Dr. Michael Lewis at the University of California at Davis successfully completing the IBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling) Diploma and Master Brewer qualifications.
He has been recognized by IBD council election as a Fellow of the IBD, the highest membership class within the organization. Toby remains actively involved with the IBD in the UK as a result, as a member of the Board of Examiners and currently fulfilling the role of senior examiner for Diploma in Brewing Paper II. He is frequently consulted with regard to the development of in-house and blended learning approaches for the course materials and objectives for all IBD examinations.
In addition, Toby was the President of the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) “The Wild West” Local Section 8 from 1998 to 2003, and served on the Executive Board for the Rocky Mountain Section of the Master Brewers’ Association of the Americas (MBAA) as co-technical chair from 2004 to 2010. Toby also serves on the MBAA Higher Education Committee, and Executive Board as current past Executive President of the MBAA.
After 33 years of industry service at MillerCoors, Toby retired in January of 2019 from MillerCoors. Currently he lectures at Metropolitan State University of Denver within the Brewery Operations Major, and he will be assisting as a Lecturer in the Brewery Operations Program.
Local acclaimed chef and culinary educator, Chef Shellie Kark is passionately dedicated to inspiring and educating around food and cooking bringing renewed joy and communion back to the kitchen and the table.
Shellie graduated Simmons University with a degree in Finance and Accounting, procured her license as a CPA and worked at Arthur Andersen & Co. With a solid foundation for business, Shellie sought her passion and graduated from the California Culinary Academy, San Francisco. Chef Kark has worked in a number of renowned restaurants including La Folie in San Francisco and Seattle’s Dahlia Lounge and The Palace Kitchen.
Returning to her native Denver, Chef Kark worked to establish the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking where she was the Chef de Cuisine. Chef Kark was a culinary professor at Johnson and Wales University, Denver Campus where she continually educated aspiring chefs.
Chef Kark is the co-founder of KitchenCUE™, a series of technique-based videos that teach the fundamentals of food preparation and presentation through a simple, step-based approach. This unique approach won KitchenCUE national recognition in a variety of publications, including O Magazine. The KitchenCUE methodology has been utilized as a foundation for the development of an array of culinary programs spanning across diverse populations.
Chef Kark serves on the Culinary Council of Sterling Rice Group where she innovates and creates new product lines for the food and beverage industry. Chef Kark continues to present numerous live food demonstrations. She has spoken at the American Personal Chef Association Annual Summit, routinely develops and tests recipes for published cookbooks and consults with health and wellness organizations around nutritious cooking and eating.
Shellie is currently honored to be working in the School of Hospitality at Metropolitan State University of Denver managing the Meeting and Events Incentive Program. The School of Hospitality is partnering with the Colorado Tourism Office to administer the $10 million program on behalf of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade to incentivize groups to host their meetings and events in Colorado! Check out the RED article for more info: https://red.msudenver.edu/2021/new-incentive-aims-to-boost-colorados-meetings-and-events-economy.html
Dr. Marissa Orlowski is an Associate Professor and the Faculty Coordinator of the Gina and Frank Day Leadership Academy, School of Hospitality, Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she teaches courses in organizational behavior, strategic management, and service leadership. Her areas of expertise include hospitality leadership; employee compensation; food and beverage management; responsible alcohol service; food and beverage consumption, packaging and presentation; and quantitative research methods.
Dr. Orlowski’s academic career is preceded by 14 years of hospitality management and leadership experience, primarily in food & beverage and catering operations, with prominent brands such as Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts and The Cheesecake Factory. Her primary research area is food and beverage, which she studies through the dual-lens of organizational and consumer behavior, and she has published in multiple leading hospitality journals including International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, and Journal of Service Management. She is also a Senior Associate Editor for the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and very involved with the U.S Bartender’s Guild, serving as the Chair of their Master Accreditation committee.
Dr. Orlowski earned her Ph.D. in Hospitality Management and a Doctoral Certificate in Advanced Quantitative Methodologies in Educational and Human Sciences from the University of Central Florida, an M.B.A. with an emphasis in Management from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and a B.A. in Hospitality Management from Michigan State University. Prior to joining the School of Hospitality, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
Smita Singh, is a Ph.D candidate from the department of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management at Iowa State University. She has 7 years of industry experience in event marketing and management and has participated in numerous international trade shows and international exhibitions.
Her research interests include smart event/technology, hospitality and event marketing, and consumer behavior and psychology, in hospitality and event management and has published several research articles in journals and has presented the outcome projects at international academic and industry conferences.
Smita joins the School of Hospitality as a Lecturer for the Event Management program.
Dr. Inna Soifer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Hospitality at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where she teaches courses in event and meeting management. She earned her Ph.D. in Nutrition and Hospitality Management with a minor in Applied Statistics from the University of Mississippi.
Dr. Soifer is a certified hospitality educator (CHE) with over a decade of experience in the global hospitality industry, including working as a project manager for one of Russia’s leading meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) agencies. Dr. Soifer’s primary research area is business and trade events. Her recent studies examined value creation in corporate events and customer adoption of event technology.
Prior to joining the School of Hospitality, Dr. Soifer was an instructor in the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management at the University of Memphis and taught as a graduate instructor at the University of Mississippi.