Vanessa Adrian/Contributing Writer
As the University’s newest interim dean for the Chaplin School, Michael Cheng plans to make improvements.
“I want to build a strong foundation for hospitality management because that is our legacy, our history and our strength,” Cheng said.
Originally from Malaysia, Cheng came to the United States as an international student where he received a bachelors in food service administration and a masters in nutritional science and dietetics at Nebraska-Lincoln University.
“Growing up in Malaysia, I’ve always been fascinated with food and spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandmother,” Cheng said. “This job has its perks. Free food, great people and something different everyday.”
From there he moved to Iowa where he received a doctorates in Hospitality Management in Iowa State University.
Prior to joining FIU, Cheng served as department chair, director of Global Studies and professor of Culinology at Southwest Minnesota State University.
Cheng is an expert in Culinology, a curriculum that combines food science and culinary arts that is trademarked by the Research Chefs Association.
Students in the Hospitality and Tourism major can receive a bachelor degree in Culinology that mixes a two-year culinary degree and a four-year food science degree into a single four-year bachelor degree.
Cheng has been a panther member for three years, after a hospitality conference where he overheard a group of FIU students talking about food science.
“I found out that the Chaplin School was interested in a food science program and that is when I applied for the position,” said Cheng.
He joined the University and worked as the associate professor and Director of the Food and Beverage Program at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
Cheng is known for his expertise in food product development, introductory food science, restaurant development, sensory analysis, facility layout and design, as well as food and beverage management.
“Some of the best students work in the food product development industry and develop food products that are tasty and restaurant quality food,” Cheng said. “We use natural methods of preservation to make the food look good and withstand holding being either fresh or frozen.”
The curriculum teaches the students to learn how to package ingredients so it’s not in invasive ways or with harsh chemicals. Cheng launched three programs personally in Nebraska, Minnesota and Malaysia.
Today over 16 universities national and international have Culinology applied into their curriculum.
“I introduced it in my home country Malaysia,” Cheng said. “It was implemented at one of the best universities in the region in 2011, Taylor’s University.”
Feature Image courtesy of Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
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