Dining Services Director Gives Commencement Address at New England Culinary Institute

Several weeks before Harvard students lined the Yard to hear Alan Greenspan give his Commencement address, Harvard Dining Services Director Ted A. Mayer was preparing a Commencement speech of his own of his own.

Mayer delivered this year's graduation address at the New England Culinary Institute, where he told the graduating class of 145 students to cultivate a passion for their profession.

"Unless you have passion and commitment to the culinary arts you will find this business tedious and yourselves very unhappy," Mayer said.

Mayer--who has been widely praised during his time at Harvard for dining innovations such as the fly-by lunch program--said food preparation is about more than just filling stomachs.

"Though food is fuel for the body, it is also comfort for the soul," he said. "It is often a vehicle for celebration, but can be used as a tool of war."

"But most of all...it is an enormously satisfying expression of people and their culture and us as individuals," he added.

He also asked graduates to help eliminate world hunger by contributing to charitable efforts.

"As chefs we should be aware that of the 5.9 billion people in the world, half live in poverty and 840 million go hungry," Mayer said.

During the ceremony at the school's campus in Montpelier, Vt., administrators presented an award in Mayer's name to graduating senior Adam Mosher. The award, given to a student with "exemplary performance in skills and professional work ethic," is given each year in the name of the graduation speaker.

Mayer said he was invited to speak at the event after collaborating with the Institute on an on-site training program for Harvard.