Washington, January 29, 2019 - José Andrés, internationally acclaimed chef, New York Times best-selling author, educator and humanitarian, will speak at the NAFSA 2019 Annual Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C. He will address the conference on Wednesday, May 29, 2019.
Andrés is an award-winning chef with restaurants across the United States and in the Bahamas and is the president and founder of ThinkFoodGroup. He is known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine and is considered to be the pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States.
“José Andrés is a great humanitarian whose work encompasses compassion and fine cuisine,” commented Esther D. Brimmer, NAFSA Executive Director and CEO. “As international educators, we appreciate that food is edible culture that can help foster a sense of shared humanity.”
In 2010, Andrés formed World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides smart solutions to hunger and poverty by using the power of food to empower communities and strengthen economies. Andrés founded the organization upon the belief that food can be an agent of change.
Globally, World Central Kitchen has provided millions of hot meals to people struck by disaster across the world, including survivors of Hurricane Florence, first responders in the California wildfires, volcano victims in Guatemala, migrants in Tijuana and the survivors of Hurricane Maria. Most recently, the nonprofit has provided assistance to furloughed federal government employees of the United States.
In his New York Times best-selling book “We Fed an Island,” Andrés details the works of the organization and how World Central Kitchen and #ChefsForPuertoRico served more than 3.5 million meals to help the people of Puerto Rico recover after Hurricane Maria.
Andrés’s work has earned numerous awards and distinctions. He was named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018 and was awarded “Outstanding Chef” and "Humanitarian of the Year" by the James Beard Foundation. Andrés is the only chef globally that has both a two-star Michelin restaurant and four Bib Gourmands.
This plenary session featuring José Andrés is sponsored by George Mason University. Learn more about all the plenary speakers at www.nafsa.org/ac19plenaries.
About the NAFSA Conference
NAFSA’s 71st Annual Conference & Expo is the world’s largest gathering of professionals in international education with an expected 10,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. The conference offers a wide array of learning and networking opportunities for international educators and features more than 200 sessions and workshops focusing on the most crucial topics in international education and exchange and global learning.
A major highlight of the conference is the International Education Expo Hall, which features more than 400 exhibitors representing hundreds of organizations from around the world, including colleges and universities; study abroad and intensive-English programs; embassies and government agencies; and more. The conference theme for 2019 is “Global Leadership, Learning, and Change.” It will be held in Washington D.C., May 28 - 31, 2019.
Learn more at www.nafsa.org/washington.