The Culinary Arts degree program is an excellent place to expand your interest and knowledge in the culinary arts. Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers prepare, season, and cook a wide variety of foods from soups and appetizers to entrees and desserts in the college kitchens.
The culinary arts school, in cooperation with our academic partners, offers students a variety of food and culinary classes that lead the student from an introduction to food through more advanced studies in professional cooking, dietetics, and baking. Area chefs are involved in teaching a variety of our food and culinary courses in our Culinary Arts degree program.
Title: Associate Professor of Hospitality Management, The Wanda Cain Chair of Hotel and Restaurant Management
Email: mkoogler@cofo.edu
Teaching Focus: Hotel Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts
Dr. Lamae Koogler brings over 30 years of accounting practice and hospitality industry experience to College of the Ozarks. She earned her BBA in Accounting from the University of New Mexico, an MBA from Northern Arizona University, and practiced in both New Mexico and Arizona before serving as an Assistant Professor at Northern Arizona University for three years. After gaining experience in theme park management, lodging management, and corporate training, she owned and operated restaurants in Texas for 15 years. Most recently, she earned her doctorate degree from the University of Missouri in Educational Leadership. In 2014, Lamae started her service with the College in the hospitality/event management and culinary arts department.
Title: Assistant Professor of Hospitality Management
Email: rstricklin@cofo.edu
Teaching Focus: Culinary Arts
Chef Robert Stricklin brings a wealth of experience and culinary excellence to College of the Ozarks. In 1981, he received his associates degree in business from Lansing Community College and entered the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Chef Apprenticeship program thereafter. From 1984 to 1985, he completed an internship at the Grand Hotel du Park, Villars, Switzerland. Throughout his career, Chef Stricklin received specialized culinary training from a variety of notable institutions including, the Notter School of Confection in Zurich, Switzerland, the Carpigiani Gelato University, the Shanghai Cooking School in Shanghai, China, the Ngon Cooking School in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the Barry Calleaut Chocolate Academy. Chef Stricklin is an ACF Certified Executive Chef and a member of the prestigious American Academy of Chefs. He currently serves as the Executive Chef for the Keeter Center at College of the Ozarks and assistant professor of culinary arts.