Industry
Faculty
Dr. Peter Rainsford
Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs
The Culinary Institute of America
Peter Rainsford is the vice president of academic affairs at the Culinary Institute of America. Prior to assuming his present position on July 31, 2006, he was a professor and the director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Prior to joining the University of Denver on July 1, 1999, he was the J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise in the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University where he taught courses in strategic management, food and beverage management and entrepreneurship. He received his bachelor’s degree from the same college and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Graduate School at Cornell University.
Professor Rainsford joined the Cornell faculty in 1968. During his tenure there he taught a variety of courses including food and beverage management, food and beverage production, food science, accounting and financial management, food and beverage control, principles of management, strategic management, and entrepreneurship and small business management. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he served for three years as the school’s assistant dean. In that role he initiated a major review of the school’s curriculum and initiated the faculty annual review process. As assistant dean, he also had responsibility for administering the school’s overseas academic programs located in San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Paulo, Brazil; Paris, France; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Mexico City, Mexico.
As director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management at the University of Denver, Professor Rainsford headed a team that designed, constructed and raised the funds for a state-of-the-art “management laboratory” to house the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. The 46,000 square foot structure opened in December 2005.
He has served on the editorial board of Upstart Publishing Company, the editorial board of The Journal of Small Business Strategy, and served as National Vice President - Publications for the Small Business Institute Directors’ Association. He received a Hatfield Award for the Enhancement of Undergraduate Education for the Fall 1992 semester and again for the 1998 -1999 academic year. His book, The Restaurant Planning Guide, was published in December 1992 and the second edition was published in 1996. He is also the author of The Restaurant Start Up Guide-which was originally published in 1997 and the second edition was published in 2001-and The Club Operational Review.
Before and during his teaching career, Professor Rainsford worked as both as an employee and as a consultant for a variety of restaurants, hotels, clubs, casinos, and suppliers to the hospitality industry. Job experiences and consulting projects have included operations, turnaround management, customer service, and strategy. He has conducted seminars and consulted for a variety of international and domestic clients at locations on six continents.
In addition to his teaching career, Mr. Rainsford has operated a variety of his own personal enterprises over the years including a restaurant located on Cayuga Lake. Professor Rainsford’s breadth of teaching and industry experiences--coupled with his personal entrepreneurial activities and industry experiences--contribute significantly to his excellent teaching evaluations and his ability to combine academic theory with practical applications for his students.
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