Faculty

The first measure of quality for an educational enterprise is the faculty. The Culinary Arts Certificate Program is proud of the fact that the majority of its faculty are American Culinary Federation Certified Chefs and each chef brings a wealth of commercial cooking experiences to the program. Most educational theorists agree that the contact between the teacher and the student determines the student’s ultimate success. In this certificate program all students will work with at least five Nationally Certified Executive Chefs and they will have the opportunity to share experiences with their instructors in both formal and informal situations. Below is a partial list of current and past instructors:

Jules Pernell, CEC, FMP Chef Jules Pernell serves as a chef instructor in the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management in the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management, where he supervises all of the restaurant management simulations including the daily grand buffet luncheon at the McCutchen House located on USC's historic horseshoe. Pernell is a graduate of USC and has extensive experience in International Foodservice through his years of travel and study in the culinary arts. He is a former president of the ACF Midlands chapter and is well known throughout the area for his fine “personal cuisine” with a French influence.

Robert Stegall-Smith, CEC Chef Robert Stegall-Smith, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has served as the corporate chef for IFH, Florence, a food distributor to top restaurants, hotels, and institutions. He is also a past president of the American Culinary Federation - Midlands Chapter, and served on the executive board for six years. He was the first place winner in the 1999 SC School Lunch Challenge and the first place winner in the 1999 ACF Midlands “Hot Food” competition. Stegall-Smith has been recognized by the American Culinary Federation as a certified executive chef since 1997.

William Knapp, FMP Chef William Knapp is a graduate of Penn State University’s Hotel and Restaurant Management School. He was previously employed as the executive chef of the Faculty House at USC which is now McCutchen House. Additionally, Knapp was executive chef of the Wilcox House in Aiken, SC, and is currently the Chef Instructor for the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management.

M. Kelly (Kell) Wilson Before moving to Charleston and diving into the world of pastry, Chef M. Kelly Wilson attended the University of South Carolina. At USC, Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1996, a bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in creative writing in 1998, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Wilson then enrolled in Johnson & Wales University at the Charleston campus. While a student, she began her culinary career as a pastry cook at Cypress Lowcountry Grille when the restaurant opened in April 2001. In 2002, Wilson graduated summa cum laude with an associate's degree in baking and pastry. Shortly after graduating, Kelly earned a promotion to pastry chef at Cypress. Since that time, her pastry philosophy has focused on interpreting classical desserts using modern, American (especially Southern), and homey flavors. Wilson's desserts have appeared in The Post and Courier, The City Paper, and Charleston Magazine, and she was a featured chef at the first Distinctively Charleston Food and Wine Festival.