When it comes to finding an expert in the culinary arts, you don’t need to look any farther than Chef Robert Anderson, executive director of DMACC’s Culinary Arts program.

A native of Minnesota, Anderson began his culinary career by attending the Mankato Area Vocational Technical Institute (MAVTI) in Mankato, Minn. He went on to study at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY.

After graduation in 1972, Anderson pursued his career at the Broadmoor Hotel and Air Force Academy Officers’ Club in Colorado Springs, CO. In 1974, Anderson became the program chair of Des Moines Area Community College’s (DMACC) Culinary Arts and Hospitality Careers program.

He is certified by the American Culinary Federation as a Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and a Certified Culinary Educator (CCE). Chef Anderson is a member of the Greater Des Moines Chefs’ Association; Chaine Des Rotisseurs, an international organization of food and wine connoisseurs; and the French Hospitality Association of the Confrerie Gastronomique de la Marmite d’Or. He has twice been named Chef of the Year by the Greater Des Moines Chefs’ Association.

In 2000, Anderson received the DMACC Distinguished Teacher of the Year award and also was inducted into the Honorable Order of the Golden Toque. He is one of only 99 American chefs in this select society of distinguished culinary arts professionals and the only active chef from Iowa. This select group of chefs and restaurateurs has been honored for their outstanding service to the food industry.

Anderson also has been instrumental in establishing a relationship with the Cuisiniers de la Loire, an organization of chefs from the St. Etienne, France, region. For more than 20 years, French chefs have come to the Ankeny Campus to teach French cuisine to DMACC’s Culinary Arts students. As part of the exchange, DMACC students travel to France each May to serve two- to three-week apprenticeships with French chefs.

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