Faculty

Culinary Arts students at Scottsdale Community College are taught by experienced, innovative chefs and instructors and are assisted by committed and friendly staff. Brief summaries of their careers and expertise follow.

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Full-Time Faculty

Mrs. Chalmers serves as the Program Director for Culinary Arts as well as Front of the House instructor for The Desert Oasis Dining Room. Her experience and expertise ranges from operations and management in food and beverage to sales and marketing for catering operations at restaurants and resorts throughout the Valley over the past 25 years. Mrs. Chalmers has a BA in Secondary Education from the University of Arizona and is a member of the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame.

Chef Greenwalt brings extensive talent and expertise to our bakery/pastry department having worked as a pastry chef at many of the finer resorts and restaurants in the Valley and across the country. His unique creative abilities in this culinary area have also earned him multiple awards of distinction in competitive skills participation for professionals in the baking and pastry industry. Chef Greenwalt is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has achieved A.C.F. certification as a Certified Culinary Educator and Executive Pastry Chef.

A native of England, Chef O'Neill brings international experience to the program. His background includes executive chef positions at numerous 5 star resorts both abroad and in the United States, enabling him to expose our students to a wide variety of cuisines. Chef O'Neill has been an instructor at SCC for the past eighteen years and is largely responsible for the design and development of our state of the art teaching kitchens and classroom. He is also the innovator of the "The Sous Chef", an interactive, innovative, educational software application that is utilized in our on-line and certificate programs. He holds the distinction of being an Arizona Hall of Fame Chef

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America as well as Brooks Institute of Photography, Chef Whelan brings a wide variety of instructional talents to the program. Chef Whelan's professional experience covers all facets of gourmet cuisine preparation having served as a chef at locations throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Locally, he has held positions at the Phoenician and Princess Resorts as well as A.J.'s Fine Foods. Chef Whelan has also participated in numerous television promotions and served as a Chef-instructor at Phoenix College.

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Part-Time Faculty

CHEF SHAWN BOWERS

Chef Bowers teaches in our online and professional programs as well as our 2nd semester Menu Planning class.  He is currently the Executive Chef for David Bauer Catering, and has served as executive chef for multiple resorts and country clubs after completing his culinary training in our SCC program eleven years ago.

MRS. JOHANNA DONNENFIELD

Mrs. Donnenfield teaches our nutrition class and is a graduate of Arizona State University with an MS in Nutrition. She has extensive experience in pharmaceuticals and clinical dietetics, holds a BS from the University of Toronto, is an instructor in the nursing program at SCC and is our primary instructor for our health  and wellness non-credit classes.

MRS. MARILYN HAWKES

Mrs. Hawkes serves as our Administrative Assistant. She has an extensive restaurant background and has worked with the music department as well as the Culinary Arts Program here at SCC for the past twelve years. Mrs. Hawkes has a BA in English from California State University at Long Beach and is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Mass Communication at ASU

Mrs. CORAL HENDON

Coral Hendon comes to SCC with extensive experience in the hospitality industry.  She is a graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree.  Mrs. Hendon has served in supervisory and training positions in restaurants, resorts and catering.  She currently teaches our Food Costing, Purchasing and Inventory Control class.

CHEF CHELSIE HIGGINS

Chef Higgins is the instructor for our 2nd semester Bakery-Pastry class.  Her specialties include advanced decorative and pastry techniques learned from her experience in multiple pastry chef positions throughout the country.

CHEF JAMES HOLMAN

With more than 30 years of industry and education experience, Chef Holman retired from operating the culinary arts department at Metro Tech High School and has joined our team as our 2nd semester Garde Manger instructor as well as an instructor in our professional program.

CHEF MONICA O'BRIEN

An alumnus of our program, Chef O'Brien has brought her industry expertise to our students as our beginning Garde Manger instructor.  Since her graduation, she has successfully owned and operated a private catering and personal chef business here in the Valley and has taught for us for the past eight years.

CHEF WILLIAM RHAME

Chef Rhame teaches our 1st semester Culinary Principles course and in the online program. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and also holds a B.S. in Business. His expertise in food production comes from corporate chef positions, casino operations and restaurants and hotels. He currently is an Executive Chef for A.J.'s Fine Foods here in the Valley.

MR. GREG WOOD

Mr. Wood is our instructor for Front of the House in the Artichoke Grill. His dining room expertise comes from several five star resorts in Phoenix as well as multiple locations in other areas of the country.  His desire for kitchen experience to compliment his skills in the front brought him to SCC, where he completed our Associates Degree program prior to adding his instructional expertise to our team.