KSU's Molt Wins 2012 IFMA Gold Plate

This is part of NRN's special coverage of the 2012 NRA Show. The show is held in Chicago, May 5-8. Follow all coverage on NRN's 'At the Show' section, check out NRN blogs, Reporter's Notebook, and Tweet with us using #NRNatNRA.

Mary Molt, Ph.D., assistant director of Housing and Dining Services at Kansas State University, was named the 2012 Gold Plate winner the closing night of the NRA Show.

Widely respected within the college and university foodservice segment, Molt was selected from among the nine 2012 Silver Plate winners honored during a celebration produced by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, or IFMA. She drew loud applause from a standing audience as she made her way to the podium.

"This is absolutely awesome!" she said. "I just want to say thank you to the wonderful industry we're all a part of — I've received more than I could ever, ever give back.

"I'd like to thank the academy," she joked. "Thank you to the jury that selected me. I almost fell off my chair when [they] called my name. Thank you to Hobart for nominating me. Thank you to the many K-Staters in the room. Thank you to John Pence, who is my boss and a Silver Plate winner himself. Thank you to my family from Nebraska here tonight. Again, thank you, thank you everyone. I'm so appreciative."

Molt oversees three dining halls serving 4,000 students and several restaurants and retail outlets at Kansas State's campus in Manhattan, Kan. She is also an assistant professor at the school and the author of several standard-setting reference books on volume feeding, including "Food for Fifty."

In addition, Molt has worked in housing and dining services for 34 years and is the recipient of several awards from the National Association of College and University Foodservice, including its highest honor, the Theodore W. Minah Award.

For more on Molt, visit food-management.com.

Also honored during the celebration at the Great Hall in Chicago's Union Station were this year's other Silver Plate recipients, including:

• Cheryl Bachelder, president, chief executive, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen/AFC Enterprises, Atlanta, in the Chain Quick Service category

• Clarence Otis Jr., chairman and chief executive of Darden Restaurants Inc., Orlando, Fla., Chain Full Service

• Phil Fahrenbruch, executive chef, Bavarian Inn of Frankenmuth, Frankenmuth, Mich., Independent Restaurant

• Ricky Clark, training and development coordinator supervisor, Virginia Department of Corrections, Crozier, Va., Specialty Foodservice

• Mark Freeman, senior manager of global employee services, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., Foodservice Management

• Lyman Graham, food services director, Roswell Independent School District, Carlsbad Municipal Schools, Dexter Consolidated Schools, Roswell, N.M., Elementary and Secondary Schools

• Dan Henroid, director, nutrition and food services, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, Health Care

• Frank Weber, vice president of food and beverage operations, Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruise Lines, Miami, Hotels and Lodging

The Silver Plate winners are chosen by a jury of industry trade press editors, the prior year's Silver Plate winners, foodservice experts and the chairman of the International Gold & Silver Plate Society.

Contact Robin Lee Allen at robinlee.allen@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @RobinLeeAllen